r-^ 


440 


BBECKINRTDGE  AND  LANE  CAMPAIGN  DOCUMENT,  NO.  8. 


BIOGRAPHICAL  SKETCHES 


01 


HON.  JOHN  C.  BRECKMIDGE, 

{jpcnweratie  glcnunce  for  f  resident, 


AND 


GENERAL  JOSEPH  LANE, 

gcnwcratic  |tomince  for  Dice  ^rcsiicnt 


WASHINGTON: 

ISSUED  BY  THE  NATIONAL  DEMOCRATIC  EXECUTIVE  COMMITTEE. 

1860. 


McGlLL  &   WlTHEKOW,    PKINTEB3. 


BIOGRAPHICAL  SKETCH 


OF 


HON.  JOHN  C.  BRECKINRIDGE. 

OF  KENTUCKY. 


The  history  of  John  C.  Breckin- 
ridge,  the  nominee  of  the  National  De- 
mocracy, for  the  highest  office  within 
the  gift  of  the  American  people,  is  one 
of  the  most  brilliant  and  successful  in 
the  annals  of  the  distinguished  men  of 
our  country.  He  was  descended  from 
an  ancestry,  both  on  his  paternal  and 
maternal  side,  who  were  distinguished 
in  the  wars  of  the  Revolution ;  in  the 
subsequent  political  conflicts  and  his- 
tory of  the  country,  and  especially 
distinguished  for  their  great  services 
in  the  advancement  of  religion,  learn- 
ing, and  good  morals.  In  Kentucky 
the  name  of  Breckinridge  is  held  in 
special  veneration ;  for  it  is  connected 
with  the  authorship  of  the  first  regular  constitution  of  Kentucky  and  the 
celebrated  State-rights  resolutions  of  1798,  and  is  also  connected  with  the 
first  efforts  made  in  Kentucky  to  open  the  navigation  of  the  Mississippi  to 
the  great  West.  Of  his  ancestors  on  the  maternal  side  are  Witherspoon  and 
Smith,  the  former  a  signer  of  the  Declaration  of  Independence,  and  both 
presidents  of  Princeton  College.  The  connection  is  an  extremely  large  one, 
and  has  been  characterized  by  patriotic  and  useful  services  through 
several  generations.  He  was  born  near  Lexington,  Kentucky,  on  the  16th 
of  January,  1821,  and,  although  not  forty  years  of  age,  is  the  second  offi- 
cer of  the  Government — a  position,  it  is  universally  conceded,  he  fills  with 
great  ability,  dignity,  and  impartiality  ;  and  now,  .by  the  unanimous  voice 
of  his  party,  he  is  presented  for  the  first  office — selected  to  bear  their 
standard  in  the  approaching  Presidential  contest,  to  contend  for  those  great 
constitutional  principles  of  justice,  right,  and  equality  for  which  his 
fathers  struggled  during  the  stormy  days  of  the  Revolution,  and  who  dedi- 
cated the  energies  of  their  gifted  minds  in  establishing  and  defining  the 
true  principles  of  our  glorious  Constitution,  under  which  we  have  grown 
from  a  few  feeble  and  sparsely-peopled  colonies  to  be  a  great  confederacy 
of  thirty-three  sovereign  States,  teeming  with  a  population  of  more  than 
thhtiy  millions  of  free,  prosperous,  and  happy  people. 

M*,  Breckinridge  lost  his  father  at  an  early  age,  and  with  his  mother 
and  he\four  other  children,  was  left  almost  entirely  dependent.     With, 


however,  the  generous  aid  of  relatives  and  his  own  constant  exertions,  he 
was  enabled  to  pass  through  the  necessary  course  of  studies  required  to 
enter  upon  the  professional  career  he  had  marked  out  for  himself.  He 
graduated  at  Centre  College,  Kentucky,  in  1888,  passed  six  months  as 
resident  graduate  in  Princeton,  pursued  his  law  studies  under  the  instruc- 
tion of  Judge  (afterwards  Governor)  Ouwsley,  and  completed  them  at  the 
Transylvania  Law  School. 

Admitted  to  the  bar  in  1841,  he  determined  to  try  his  fortune  in  a 
new  land.  Accordingly,  with  no  heritage  but  his  talents  and  fair  name, 
he  set  out  in  the  fall  of  that  year  with  a  friend,  and,  leisurely  pursuing  his 
way  to  observe  the  country,  he  settled  in  Burlington,  Iowa.  It  was,  in- 
deed, the  then  far-distant  West ;  for  Mr.  Breckinridge,  during  his  two 
years'  residence  in  Iowa,  hunted  the  elk  and  buffalo  on  the  site  of  its 
present  capital.  Thus,  in  the  earliest  period  of  his  manhood,  was  Mr.  Breck- 
inridge thrown  upon  the  remote  frontier  ;  and  he  knows,  from  the  warm 
and  heartfelt  associations  of  those  days,  the  patriotic,  noble,  and  self-sacri- 
ficing character  of  the  American  pioneer. 

In  1843,  on  a  visit  to  Kentucky,  he  addressed  and  married  Miss 
Mary  C.  Burch,  of  Scott  county,  his  present  wife,  a  lady  endeared  to  all 
by  her  domestic  virtues  and  her  accomplished  manners.  She  was  largely 
connected  with  the  influential  families  of  Kentucky,  aided  by  whose  in- 
fluence the  friends  of  Mr.  Breckinridge  induced  him  to  abandon  the  idea 
of  returning  to  Iowa.  He  settled  in  Georgetown,  Kentucky,  and  rose 
rapidly  to  distinction  in  his  profession.  But  he  early  took  part  in  the 
political  contests  of  his  State  in  1844,  canvassed  it  for  Mr.  Polk,  and 
from  that  period  has  borne  a  prominent  share  in  every  political  conflict. 

The  Mexican  war  broke  out,  and  the  gallant  sons  of -Kentucky  were  to 
be  found  in  the  front  rank  of  the  armies  of  the  Republic.  The  glorious 
yet  mournful  history  of  Buena  Vista  especially  rejoiced  and  saddened  the 
heart  of  Kentucky.  There  many  of  her  bravest  sons,  her  Clays,  her 
McKees,  her  Hardins,  slept  their  last  sleep.  It  was  resolved  that  their 
remains  should  be  gathered  up,  taken  to  the  capital,  and  there  consigned 
to  the  tomb  amidst  the  tears  of  the  people,  and  with  all  the  solemnities 
which  reverence  and  love  could  dictate.  Mr.  Breckinridge  was  the  orator 
of  the  occasion,  and  pronounced  a  most  admirable  and  affecting  eulogy.  A 
call  was  soon  made  upon  Kentucky  for  additional  troops.  It  was  deemed 
a  critical  and  turning  point  of  the  war.  General  Scott  had  advanced 
upon  the  city  of  Mexico.  His  rear  was  in  possession  of  the  enemy.  His 
troops  had  been  greatly  reduced  in  battle  and  by  disease.  Larger  and 
more  perilous  movements  were  in  contemplation.  Under  these  circum- 
stances Mr.  Breckinridge  volunteered,  and  received  from  his  old  preceptor, 
Gov.  Ouwsley,  the  only  commission  of  field  officer  conferred  by  him  upon  a 
Democrat,  viz :  that  of  major.  On  reaching  the  city  of  Mexico,  in  De- 
cember, he  found  the  war  virtually  at  an  end,  and  the  regiment  to  which 
he  belonged  was  employed  in  garrison  duty  to  hold  the  city  of  Mexico,  and 
to  protect  its  inhabitants  from  pillage  and  disorders.  During  his  stay  in 
the  city  of  Mexico,  Major  General  Pillow  was  tried  by  a  court  of  inquiry. 
Major  Breckinridge's  fine  legal  talents  were  required  on  that  occasion, 
when  he  distinguished  himself  by  his  able  and  successful  defence  of  Gen- 
eral Pillow. 


At  the  close  of  the  war  he  rejoined  his  family  and  resumed  his  pro- 
fession. Frank,  manly,  generous,  and  just,  with  a  heart  that  never 
throbbed  with  one  pulsation,  save  for  the  honor  and  welfare  of  his 
country,  he  soon  became  a  great  favorite  with  the  people,  who,  fully 
appreciating  his  commanding  talents  and  noble  qualities,  called  him 
from  retirement  to  represent  them  in  the  legislature  of  the  State. 
Although  the  county  was  opposed  to  him  in  politics,  being  Whig  by 
a  large  majority,  yet  such  was  the  admiration  of  the  people  for  the 
sterling  qualities  of  his  heart,  and  the  brilliant  character  of  his  mind, 
that  he  was  elected  in  the  year  1849,  by  a  decisive  majority  over  his 
Whig  competitor.  Among  the  foremost  in  support  of  Mr.  Breckin- 
ridge  was  that  unrivalled  orator,  Henry  Clay,  who  abjured  his  politics 
to  pay  a  just  tribute  to  the  worth  and  ability  of  the  gallant  young 
Kentuckian.  • 

Upon  the  meeting  of  the  legislature,  he  was  honored  with  the 
Democratic  nomination  for  Speaker,  and  received  the  unanimous  vote 
of  his  party.  His  term  of  service  was  brief,  but  he  left  upon  the  leg- 
islature the  impress  of  his  eloquence  and  talents,  by  his  able  advocacy 
of  the  cause  of  education,  internal  improvements,  and  every  other 
measure  which  tended  to  promote  the  cause  of  moral  and  material 
progress.  During  this  session,  he  introduced  a  series  of  resolutions 
affirming  many  of  the  principles  subsequently  enacted  into  the  com- 
promise legislation  of  1850,  and  they  received  the  support  of  the  en- 
tire Democratic  party  in  the  legislature. 

Duty  to  his  young  and  growing  family  required  that  he  should 
return  to  his  profession,  when  he  declined  a  re-election ;  but  the 
people,  quick  to  discern  and  prompt  to  reward  true  worth  and  true 
greatness,  would  not  permit  him  to  pursue  that  course  which  the 
dictates  of  his  sound  judgment  and  affectionate  heart  had  marked  out 
for  himself.  In  January,  1841,  the  Hon.  L.  W.  Powell  was  nomi- 
nated as  the  Democratic  candidate  for  Governor.  Yielding  to  the 
urgent  solicitations  of  his  personal  friends,  and  the  pressing  demands 
of  one  of  the  most  enlightened  constituencies  in  the  world,  who  as- 
sured him  that  his  candidacy  would  materially  aid  Mr.  Powell's 
election,  he  reluctantly  consented  to  become  a  candidate  for  Con- 
gress in  the  Ashland  District.  It  was  a  serious  proposition.  A 
young  man  with  a  family  depending  upon  him  for  support,  was 
called  on  to  lead  a  forlorn  hope,  when  defeat  seemed  inevitable. 
The  name  and  home  of  Clay,  hallowed  the  ground  of  contest  in  the 
hearts  of  his  devoted  followers.  They  were  loyal  in  their  attach- 
ments and  confident  in  their  strength  ;  they  had  wealth,  influence, 
numbers,  and  they  would  sacrifice  all  before  the  spot  of  their  idolatry 
should  be  profaned  by  the  triumphant  march  of  those  they  deemed 
infidel  to  their  principles.  To  defend  their  citadel,  to  represent  their 
sentiments,  the  Whigs  selected  their  most  gallant  champion,  General 
Leslie  Coombs,  whose  fame  is  as  extended  as  the  Republic,  lie  had 
b&en  a  soldier  with  Harrison  and  Croghan  ;  had  shed  his  blood  to 
res(Sac  the  women  of  Kentucky  from  the  savage  and  brutal  foe,  and 
to  avenge  her  men  betrayed  and  murderea  at  the  River  Raisin.  He 
had  given  a  gallant  son  and  a  fortune  to  the  cause  of  struggling 


Texas.  He  was  identified  with  the  fortunes  of  the  great  chief  he  had 
served  so  faithfully  and  loved  so  well.  He  was  an  eloquent  and 
experienced  speaker,  a  politician  perfectly  familiar  with  the  questions 
past  and  pending.  He  was  an  able,  manty,  and  generous  foe,  and 
therefore  the  more  formidable  before  a  Kentucky  constituency.  With 
a  full  foreknowledge  of  the  inequalities  of  the  contest,  Mr.  Breck- 
inridge, obedient  as  he  has  ever  been  to  the  call  of  duty,  at  great 
personal  sacrifice,  entered  the  contest,  and,  to  the  consternation  of  his 
opponents,  and  to  the  surprise  and  delight  of  the  Democracy  through- 
out the  Union,  after  a  most  protracted  struggle  of  seven  months,  was 
elected  by  530  majority,  a  change  of  more  than  two  thousand  votes. 

When  it  was  subsequently  insinuated  in  Congress  that  he  owed  his  elec- 
tion to  foreign  aid,  "No,  sir,"  said  Mr.  Breckinridge;  "I  came  not  here 
by  the  aid  of  money,  but  in  spite  of  it.  I  have  to  say  that  I  represent  a 
district  in  which  the  money  power  of  the  Commonwealth  is  concentrated, 
and  that  money  power  is  in  the  hands  of  my  opponents.  It  was  loudly 
proclaimed  in  the  streets  of  the  city  where  I  live  that  I  should  be  defeated 
if  it  cost  $50,000  to  do  it ;  and  I  can  tell  the  member  from  New  York  that 
at  least  §30,000  were  spent  for  that  purpose,  and,  as  the  result  shows,  in 
vain." 

The  opposition  were  defeated,  but  not  conquered;  they  determined 
to  make  another  desperate  struggle  to  rescue  the  district  from  the 
grasp  of  the  Democracy.  They  cast  carefully  about  for  the  strongest 
of  their  champions,  and  decided  in  convention  to  call  Governor 
Letcher  to  the  conflict  of  1853.  lie  was  a  strong  man;  he  had  reached 
the  highest  honors  his  State  could  confer  on  him ;  in  his  hands  the 
Whig  banner  had  never  lost  a  victory  or  suffered  a  defeat,  and  his  friends 
deemed  him  invincible.  The  nomination  of  this  gentleman  was  an- 
nounced with  shouts  which  reached  the  ears  of  his  youthful  com- 
petitor, as  he  lay  stretched  upon  a  bed  of  sickness :  his  courteous 
competitor  called  to  tender  him  a  short  respite  from  the  toils  of  the 
canvass,  but  the  shouts  of  his  opponents  had  aroused  the  indomitable 
spirit  of  the  gallant  invalid,  when,  after  returning  his  thanks  to  Gov. 
Letcher  for  his  courtesy,  he  replied:  aNo,  sir,  do  not  delay  your  can- 
vass on  my  account;  take  the  stump,  and  I  will  meet  you  as  soon  as 
my  strength  will  allow."  He  did  so ;  the  contest  was  long,  fierce, 
and  bitter ;  again  was  the  invincible  Breckinridge  triumphantly  re- 
elected  by  a  majority  as  decisive  as  that  over  his  first  competitor — his 
invincibility  proved,  the  prestige  of  success  stamped  upon  his  brow, 
and  his  district,  which  for  the  first  time  was  rescued  by  him  from  the 
Whigs,  now  lost  to  the  opposition,  in  all  probability,  for  ever. 

His  brilliant  career  in  Congress  for  four  years  is  fresh  in  the  recol- 
lection of  all.  While  he  was  the  faithful  and  efficient  representative  of 
all  the  interests  of  his  immediate  constituents,  he  was  the  bold,  manly, 
and  fearless  advocate  of  Democratic  principles  and  measures, 'and  was 
universally  acknowledged  as  the  leader  of  his  party  by  his  friends  and 
foes. 

Indeed,  his  power  to  combine  a  proper  attention  to  the  minutest  wants 
of  his  constituents  and  to  th?  details  of  the  public  business,  with  a  steady 
and  powerful  grasp  of  the  great  political  and  public  questions  of  the  day, 

' 


evince  a  breadth  of  capacity  and  systematic  habits  of  business  which  fit 
him  for  the  first  place  in  the  Republic.  Thus  an  indemnity  for  the  widow 
and  orphans  of  the  gallant  McKee,  relief  for  certain  constituents  who  had 
made  expenditures  by  order  and  on  account  of  the  government,  reim- 
bursement of  losses  to  a  contractor  for  the  discontinuance  of  a  mail  service 
of  great  importance  to  Kentucky,  the  removal  of  restrictions  upon  the 
location  of  military  land  warrants,  the  getting  an  appropriation  for  the 
purchase  of  an  American  cemetery  near  the  city  of  Mexico,  where  the 
remains  of  our  gallant  soldiers  were  gathered  under  the  protection  of  their 
country's  flag,  were,  among  others,  objects  to  which  he  gave  his  exertions, 
and  in  all  of  which  he  was  successful,  except  in  the  case  of  removing 
restrictions  upon  the  location  of  military  land  warrants. 

As  an  evidence  of  his  great  judgment  and  capacity  in  conducting  mea- 
sures through  the  House,  we  will  refer  to  the  deficiency  bill  of  1853.  It 
had  been  rejected  by  the  House,  and  recommitted  to  the  Ways  and  Means. 
The  committee  reported  back  the  same  bill,  and  entrusted  Mr.  Breckin- 
ridge  with  its  management  in  the  House.  It  was  vigorously  resisted.  The 
discussion  lasted  several  weeks.  Mr.  Breckinridge  was  always  at  his  post, 
answering  objections,  explaining  doubtful  points,  interposing  to  cut  off 
indiscreet  speeches  from  friends,  turning  of  the  hostility  of  opponents  by 
a  kindly  word,  and  finally,  with  scarcely  the  loss  of  a  single  item,  carried 
the  bill  through  by  a  vote  of  138  to  111.  In  the  course  of  the  debate, 
Mr.  Breckinridge  said:  UI  am  perfectly  aware,  Mr.  Chairman,  of  the 
responsibility  which  I  have  personally  incurred  in  attempting  to  conduct 
this  bill  through  the  committee,  [of  the  Whole,]  and  that  it  would  be  im- 
possible, having  the  bill  in  charge,  to  engage  in  irrelevant  and  heated 
discussions." 

Upon  the  advent  of  the  Know-Nothing  party  Mr.  Breckinridge  was  the 
first  to  take  the  stump  in  Kentucky  to  attack  it.  There  he  laid  down  the 
broad  proposition  that  all  men,  citizens  by  our  laws,  were  equal,  and  that 
any  distinction  made  on  account  of  birth  or  creed  was  at  war  with  the 
principles  of  our  government,  and  tended  to  overthrow  the  liberties  of 
our  country ;  and  in  Congress  he  made  the  first  speech  upon  the  sub- 
ject, in  which,  standing  upon  this  proposition,  he  exposed  in  a  most 
masterly  manner  the  fallacy  and  destructive  tendencies  of  its  creed,  as  at 
war  with  the  social  relations  of  life,  and  a  fatal  blow  aimed  at  civil  and 
religious  liberty. 

In  a  debate  on  a  bill  reported  Ly  Mr.  "Wentworth,  of  Massachusetts, 
on  the  3d  March,  1855,  to  prevent  the  importation  of  certain  classes 
of  foreigners  to  this  country,  after  an  able  exposition  of  its  absurdity 
and  injustice,  Mr.  Breckinridge  said: 

"I  do  not  propose  to  enlarge  on  this  subject.  I  regard  this  bill  as  one  of  the  fruits  of  the 
prescriptive  feeling  which  is  just  now  pervading  this  country.  I  know  it  is  popular,  and  I 
know  it  is  sweeping  like  a  hurricane  from  one  end  of  the  country  to  the  other;  but  it  is  in 
conflict  with  the  fundamental  principles  of  our.  system  of  Government,  and  I  am  willing  to 
^ppose  my  hand  to  it,  and  await  the  t'tmc  when  there  ehall  be  a  reaction  in  the  public  sen- 
nment,  as  I  know  there  will  be.  I  want  the  gentlemen 'of  this  House  to  know  that,  if  they 
vo\e  lor  this  bill,  they  draw  ft  distinction  between  the  poor  and  the  rich,  and  allow  only  the 
lattat  class  to  come,  nor  can  they  come  except  with  a  pass  in  their  hands,  like  a  negro  going 
from  one  plantation  to  another.'1' 

The  reaction  in  public  sentiment,  which  Mr.  Breckinridge's  sagacity 


8 

foresaw,  quickly  came,  when  Know  NTothingism  vanished  before  the 
light  of  investigation  like  the  mists  of  the  morning  before  the  rising 
sun. 

In  general  debate  Mr.  Breckinridge  discussed,  in  a  philosophical  and 
elaborate  manner,  some  of  the  greatest  questions  of  the  day,  and  distin- 
guished himself  by  his  hand-to-hand  encounters  with  the  most  experienced 
fladiators  of  the  House.  Thus,  in  the  discussion  between  him  and  Mr.  II. 
larshall,  the  real  issue  was  so  directly  and  vigorously  thrust  back 
by  the  former,  that,  notwithstanding  Mr.  Marshall's  great  logical  acumen 
and  fertility  of  resource,  the  equilibrium  of  the  contest  was  fully  restored. 
Mr.  Breckinridge,  in  an  encounter  with  Mr.  Giddings,  so  pressed  him 
that  the  latter  fiercely  denied  the  power  of  the  federal  government  to 
enact  a  fugitive  slave  law,  or  to  employ  the  force  of  the  country  to  en- 
force it.  But  he  particularly  signalized  his  fidelity  to  his  friends  and 
principles  by  his  defence  of  the  gallent  soldier  of  Kentucky,  General 
William  0.  Butler,  and  of  a  long  array  of  able  and  experienced  statesmen, 
attacked  in  the  January  and  February  numbers  of  the  Democratic  Review, 
1852.  The  name  of  General  Butler  had  been  presented  to  the  Democracy 
of  Kentucky  as  a  nominee  for  the  Presidency.  Francis  P.  Blair  having 
in  this  event  signified  his  intention  to  vote  for  him,  General  Butler  was 
falsely  charged  with  being  infected  with  free-soil  sentiments,  and  indeed 
with  having  formed  a  coalition  with  the  Free-Soilers.  These  charges 
were  repeated  and  grossly  exaggerated  in  the  February  number  of  the 
Democratic  Review.  An  incidental  allusion  having  been  made  on  the 
floor  of  the  House  to  the  slander  against  General  Butler,  Mr.  Breckin- 
ridge, on  the  3d  March,  1852,  rose  in  his  vindication,  and  that  of  the 
other  statesmen  villified  and  slandered  in  the  Democratic  Review.  The 
letter  of  General  Butler  on  the  subject,  which  was  endorsed  by  Mr. 
Breckinridge,  and  which  the  latter  read  to  the  House,  was  so  sound  and 
national  in  its  enunciation  of  constitutional  rights  and  principles  as  to 
forever  put  to  rest  the  infamous  slander  uttered  against  him.  Taking 
the  sentiments  of  this  letter  in  regard  to  tho  Territorial  question,  which 
were  endorsed  and  defended  by  Mr.  Breckinridge,  in  connection  with 
the  several  speeches  of  the  latter,  and  especially  his  speech  in  the  House 
of  Representatives  on  the  23d  of  March,  1854,  on  the  Kansas  Nebraska 
Bill,  it  will  be  found  that  the  question  of  the  equal  right  of  the  several 
States  to  participate  in  the  enjoyment  of  the  Territories  is  placed  on  the 
precise  grounds  of  the  platform  adopted  in  June  last  by  the  National  Dem- 
ocratic party  which  put  Mr.  Breckinridge  in  nomination. 

At  the  risk  of  subjecting  ourselves  to  the  imputation  of  presenting  this 
question  out  of  its  regular  order,  we  will  now  consider  Mr.  Breckinridge's 
views  in  regard  to  the  slavery  question. 

General  Butler,  in  his  letter  to  Mr.  Breckinridge,  said  : 

"  In  a  few  years  more  our  wild  Territories  will  become  prosperous  States,  nnd  each  State 
•will  settle  within  its  own  borders  the  question  of  slavery  by  constitutional  enactments. 
That  none  can  question.  In  the  .meantime  the  right  of  the  contending  parties,  whether 
real  or  imaginary,  will  remain  unimpaired." 

Thus,  at  that  early  day,  the  veteran  hero  and  statesman  of  Kentucky 
and  his  champion  on  the  floor  of  the  House,  clearly  enunciated  the  great 
principle  held  this  day  by  the  National  Democracy — that  the  question  of 


9 

slavery  in  the  Territories  was  to  be  settled  by  constitutional  enactments 
on  their  admission  as  States  into  the  Federal  Union.  In  the  speech  of 
Mr.  Breckinridge,  0n  tbje  Kansas  and  Nebraska  bill,  delivered  in  the  House 
of  Representatives,  on  the  23d  of  March,  1854,  the  soundest  and  most 
enlarged  views  are  given  upon  the  subject  of  territorial  power.  Not  a 
sentence  is  to  be  found  in  this  speech  in  conflict  with  the  platform  of  the 
National  Democracy  in  June,  1860,  or  with  the  speech  of  Mr.  Breckin- 
ridgc  at  Frankfort,  accepting  the  office  of  Senator  in  Congress,  to  which 
he  had  just  been  elected  by  the  Legislature  of  Kentucky. 

This  speech  is  remarkable  for  its  clear  statement  of  the  legislation  of 
Congress  at  critical  periods  of  our  history,  and  its  powerful  analysis  of  the 
motives  and  movements  of  parties.  The  compromise  of  1820  was  simply  a 
plan  of  adjustment  to  ward  off  threatened  peril  to  our  country.  It  abridged 
southern  rights.  It  gave  to  the  North  undue  influence  and  ascendency. 
Yet  Mr.  Breckinridge  showed  that  it  was  repeatedly  violated  by  the  par- 
ties under  free-soil  and  abolition  influences,  and  that  in  repeated  epochs 
of  our  history — the  admission  of  Missouri — the  annexation  of  Texas — there 
had  been  exhibited  on  the  part  of  the  great  Democratic  party  of  our  coun- 
try a  fixed  determination  to  abide  by  it.  The  great  struggle  came  in  1850, 
when  that  compromise  was  trampled  under  foot  by  the  refusal  to  extend 
the  line  of  36°  30'  to  the  Pacific,  and  the  issue  was  joined  between  those 
who  insisted  upon  Congress  prohibiting  slavery  in  the  Territories,  and  those 
who  demanded  that  the  question  of  slavery  in  the  Territories  should  be 
left  to  the  people  who  inhabit  them,  subject  only  to  the  Federal  Constitu- 
tion. This  latter  principle  prevailed.  It  was  determined  that  all  parties 
should  abide  by  the  decisions  of  the  courts  in  the  matter  of  the  title  of  a 
master  to  his  slaves  in  the  Territories.  Thus  these  compromise  measures 
of  1850  practically  repealed  the  Missouri  compromise  line,  and  estab- 
lished the  principles  of  the  Kansas-Nebraska  act,  and  of  the  platform  of 
the  National  Democracy  of  18(50. 

Referring  to  the  compromise  of  1850,  Mr.  Breckinridge,  in  the  speech 
alluded  to,  said  : 

"  But  by  the  other  construction  [that  it  was  a  permanent  policy]  it  was  indeed  a  final 
settlement,  a  settlement  which  removes  from  the  federal  theatre  the  only  question  that 
can  disturb  our  domestic  tranquillity,  and  leaves  Congress  in  the  future  nothing  to  do  in 
connection  with  it,  except  to  apply  the  established  principles  as  the  occasions  arise.  No, 
sir :  whatever  some  gentlemen  may  say  now,  the  people  were  not  guilty  of  the  folly  im- 
puted to  them  by  the  opponents  of  this  bill.  Their  patriotic  acclamations  went  up  to 
Heaven  over  an  act  of  healing  statesmanship,  not  over  a  political  job.  They  accepted  those 
measures,  not  as  a  truce  to  faction,  but  as  a  bond  of  lasting  concord." 

Again,  speaking  of  the  compromises  of  1820  and  1850 : 
"They  [tho  abolitionists]  opposed  both  these  settlements.     They  will  adhere  to  neither 
in  good  faith,  but  will  appeal  to  them  or  reject  them  as  may  best  promote  their  incendiary 
purposes  "  *,*„.,"  These  are  the  questions  to  be  decided  in  good  faith  by 

those  who  recognize  compromises  as  something  more  important  and  durable  than  ordinary 
acts  of  legislation.     While  for  those  who  opposed  them  both,  and  who  spurn  all  settle- 
ments touching  slavery,  the  less  that  is  said  either  of  compromise  or  of  plighted  faith  the 
tier."  "Such  was  not  the  sense  in  which  that  great  compromise  [of 

Co]  was  accepted  by  the  American  people  "  *         "  Who,  then,  are  tho 

ngit&tors  ?     Who  are  faithful  to  the  compromise  of  1850  ?" 

In  discussing  the  principles  of  the  Kansas  and  Nebraska  bill,  Mr. 
Breckinridge  used  the  following  expressions  : 

"The  effect  of  the  repeal,  [Missouri  compromise  line,]  therefore,  is  neither  to  establish 
nor  to  exclude,  [slavery,]  but  to  leave  the  future  condition  of  the  Territories  dependent 


10 

wholly  on  the  action  of  the  inhabitants,  subject  only  to  such  limitations  as  the  federal  Con- 
stitution may  impose."  .  *  *  *  "It  will  be  observed  that  the  right  of  the  people 
to  regulate  in  their  own  way  all  their  domestic  institutions  is  left  wholly  untouched,  ex- 
cept that  whatever  is  done  must  be  in  accordance  with  the  Constitution — the  supreme  law 
for  us  all.  And  the  rights  of  property  under  the  Constitution,  as  well  as  legislative 
action,  is  properly  left  to  the  decision  of  the  federal  judiciary. 

"  Then,  sir,  neither  the  purpose  nor  effect  of  the  bill  is  to  legislate  slavery  into  Nebraska 
nnd  Kansas  ;  but  its  effect  is  to  sweep  away  this  vestige  of  congressional  dictation  on  this 
subject,  to  allow  the  free  citizens  of  this  Union  to  enter  the  common  territory  with  the 
Constitution  and  the  bill  alone  in  their  hands,  and  to  remit  the  decision  of  their  rights 
under  both  to  the  courts  of  the  country.  Who  can  go  before  his  constituents  refusing  to 
stand  on  the  platform  of  the  Constitution  ?  Who  can  make  a  case  to  them  of  refusing  to 
abide  the  decision  of  the  courts  of  the  Union  ?:> 

After  discussing  the  relations  between  the  General  Government  and  the 
Territories,  he  thus  sets  forth  the  principle  which  should  govern  and  limit 
the  power  of  Congress  to  legislate  for  the  Territories : 

"I  have  already  said  that  the  Constitution  nowhere  expressly  grants  political  power  over 
the  Territories.  Let  us  bear  in.  mind,  then,  that  it  can  only  be  an  implied  power,  to  be 
exercised  by  a  limited  government,  over  a  region,  the  common  property  of  States  which 
created  this  limited  government;  and  the  inference  is  irresistible  that  it  must  be  exercised 
.in  the  spirit  of  the  political  system  out  of  which  this  limited  government  springs.  It  would 
follow,  if  the  power  were  expressly  granted;  but  flows  with  greater  force  since  it  is  only 
derivative.  What,  then,  is  the  spirit  of  the  system?  I  answer,  the  equality  of  the  States." 
*  *  #  The  Territories  "are  regions  of  country  acquired  by  the  common  efforts  and 
treasure  of  all  the  States ;  they  belong,  therefore,  to  the  States,  for  common  use  and  enjoy- 
ment. The  citizens  of  the  States  are  to  inhabit  them;  and,  when  the  population  shall  be 
sufficient,  they  are  to  become  equal  members  of  the  Union." 

These  extracts  are  sufficient  to  show  how  Mr.  Breckinridge  went  to  the 
heart  of  the  matter  in  1854.  The  principle  then  was,  both  on  the  part  of 
Congress  and  of  the  Territorial  legislature,  the  equality  of  the  States. 
Questions  of  property  under  the  Constitution  were  to  be  decided  by  the 
courts.  Congress,  then,  had  simply  to  see  that  the  principle  of  equality 
was  maintained  inviolate,  and  that  the  decisions  of  the  courts  were  en- 
forced. 

But  to  resume : 

The  January  number  of  the  Democratic  Review  attacked  almost  every 
man  in  the  Democratic  party  whose  name  had  been  mentioned  in  connec- 
tion with  the  Presidency.  The  veteran  and  experienced  statesmen,  who 
had  stood  by  Andrew  Jackson,  and  had  in  various  fields  of  duty  advanced 
their  country's  honor  and  renown — Buchanan,  Marcy,  Houston,  Butler, 
and  Cass — were  held'  up  to  public  odium  and  contempt  as  the  fossil  re- 
mains of  a  past  generation,  altogether  antiquated,  unequal  to  the  pro- 
gressive tendencies  of  the  age.  It  was  boldly  asserted  that  the  times 
demanded  men  with  "  not  only  young  blood,"  but  "young  ideas,"  to 
conduct  the  affairs  of  State. 

Mr.  Breckinridge,  after  exposing  the  gross  misrepresentations  of  the 
Review,  and  declaring  it  had  traduced  the  most  honored  names  in  the 
Democratic  party,  thus  gave  his  own  views  of  conservative  progress : 

"  Let  me  say  a  word  now  upon  this  question  of  progress.  I  profess  to  be  a  friend  of 
rational  progress;  but  I  want  no  wild  and  visionary  progress,  that  would  sweep  away  VI 
the  immortal  principles  of  our  forefathers  ;  hunt  up  some  imaginary  genius,  place  him  on 
a  new  policy,  give  him  '  Young  America'  for  a  fulcrum,  and  let  him  turn  the  world  upside 
down.  That  is  not  the  progress  I  want.  I  want  to  progress  in  the  line  of  the  principles 
of  our  fathers ;  I  want  a  steady  and  rational  advance — not  beyond  the  limits  of  tbe  fed- 
eral Constitution  ;  but  I  am  afraid  that  such  progress  as  is  now  talked  about  would  carry 
us  elear  away  from  that  sacred  instrument.  I  want  to  progress  by  ameliorating  the  con' 


11 

dition  of  the  people  by  fair,  just,  and  equal  laws,  and  by  simplicity,  frugality,  and  justice 
marking  the  operations  of  the  federal  government.  Above  all,  I  hope  to  eee  the  Demo- 
cratic party  adhere  with  immovable  fidelity  to  the  ancient  and  distinguishing  landmarks  of 
its  policy.  These  are  my  opinions  on  progress  ;  and  I  think  the  sooner  we  canvass  and 
winnow  and  sift  away  opposite  opinions  the  better." 

The  writer  of  these  articles  was  known  to  be  the  devoted  partizan  of 
the  only  prominent  man  mentioned  in  connection  with  the  Presidency  who 
had  not  been  referred  to  by  him  in  terms  of  disparagement.  The  Review, 
in  fact,  assailed,  to  use  Mr.  Breckinridge's  words,  "all  the  candidates 
except  the  distinguished  Senator  from  Illinois,  (Mr.  Douglas,)  who  seems 
to  be  a  particular  favorite."  This  called  up  Mr.  Richardson,  of  Illinois, 
who  protested  that  these  articles  were  written  without  the  knowledge  of 
Judge  Douglas,  and  were  against  his  views  and  wishes;  and  also  that  Mr. 
Douglas  having  learned  that  a  violent  attack  was  to  be  made  upon  General 
Butler  in  the  February  number,  did  all  he  could  to  prevent  it,  but  without 
effect.  Mr.  Breckinridge  concluded  in  these  w6rds:  "Again,  I  say,  let 
us  be  just;  let  us  be  fair.  Let  no  man  by  himself,  or  through  his  friends, 
attempt  to  promote  individual  interests  by  traducing  others.  If  this  course 
be  continued,  we  will  not  succeed ;  we  ought  not  to  succeed." 

Ever  the  faithful  advocate  of  the  reform  of  abuses  in  the  Govern- 
ment, and  economy  in  its  expenditures,  he  boldly  opposed  all  monopo- 
lies, subsidies,  and  extravagance. 

Amongst  the  various  combinations  which  were  formed,  to  fasten 
themselves  upon  the  Government,  as  perpetual  stipendiaries,  during 
his  service  in  Congress,  were  "  the  Ocean  Steam  subsidies." 

Steam  lines  had  been  built  chiefly  with  public  money,  to  run  to 
Liverpool,  California,  and  Oregon,  and  applications  were  made  to 
admit  other  parties  to  participate  in  the  national  gratuity.  Lines  were 
asked  to  Antwerp,  to  the  West  Indies,  to  Brazil,  Venezuela,  Havana, 
Hamburg,  Genoa,  Gibraltar,  Marseilles,  Toulon,  and  China,  and  with 
an  expansive  enterprise  not  to  he  controlled  by  considerations  of  race 
or  region.  This  combination  of  enterprise  and  capital  Appealed  to  all 
sections  of  the  Union,  and  to  all  interests  of  society,  appealing  alike 
to  the  patriotism  of  the  honest,  the  aspirations  of  the  ambitious,  and 
the  interests  of  the  sordid.  The  aggregate  appropriations  asked  for 
this  purpose,  with  the  sum  already  applied  to  a  similar  purpose, 
amounted  to  more  than  six  millions  of  dollars. 

The  combination  to  carry  this  gigantic  monopoly  was  powerful  and 
harmonious.  In  the  language  of  Mr.  Breckinridge,  the  steam  bounty 
system  commanded  "  the  most  powerful  and  determined  outside  pres- 
sure ever  brought  to  hear  upon  any  deliberate  body." 

It  was  against  this  powerful  monopoty  that  Mr.  Breckinridge  sig- 
nalized his~  stern  integrity  of  character  and  devotion  to  the  ^public 
weal,  by  one  of  the  most  powerful,  brilliant,  and  successful  assaults 
upon  this  monopoly  ^ever  made  in  any  deliberative  assembly. 

Upon  an  amendment  made  in  the  Senate  to  House  bill  to  supply 
deficiencies  in  the  appropriations  for  the  fiscal  year  ending  June  30, 
1852,  granting  additional  compensation  to  the  Collins  line  of  steamers, 
he  made  his  great  speech.  He  demonstrated  that  the  proposed  amend- 
ment of  the  Senate  was  to  supply  no  deficiency,  because  it  was  not 
pretended  that  the  Government  of  the  United  States  had  failed  to  per- 


12 

form  strictly  its  agreements  with  Mr.  Collins  and  his  associates  ;  he 
denounced  it  as  the  result  of  a  practice  becoming  too  common  of  re- 
quiring necessary  appropriations  to  sustain  others  of  doubtful  pro- 
priety, and  regarded  it  as  a  fruitful  source  of  mischievous  legislation, 
which  he  was  ever  ready  to  oppose.  He  said : 

'•  Heretofore  the  money  expended  upon  our  ocean  mail  system  has  been  paid  on  the  princi- 
ple of  a  contract,  and  the  Government  was  supposed  to  receive  a  valuable  consideration. 
The  two  objects  avowed  were  to  obtain  for  a  fair  price  the  transportation  of  the  mails  and 
the  germ  of  an  economical  marine.  But  the  question  now  presented  is-  wholly  different. 
We  are  urged  to  open  the  Federal  Treasury  for  the  purpose  of  sustaining  certain  commer- 
cial lines  'in  a  national  competition.'  We  are  told  they  must  go  down,  in  the  rude  con- 
tests of  commerce,  unless  they  are  sustained  by  the  public  money.  The  true  question,  when 
stripped  of  all  disguises,  is,  Shall  the  Government  become  the  partner  of  individuals  and 
companies  in  commercial  operations,  thus  inflicting  a  double  wrong,  by  giving  peculiar 
advantages  to  a  small  fraction  of  the  community,  and  at  the  same  time  collecting  the  capi- 
tal it  subscribes  by  taxation  from  those  who  are  to  be  oppressed  by  the  monopoly  ?;;  *  * 
"If,  by  the  adoption  of  this  amendment,  the  principle  is  established1  that  Gov- 
ernment money  shall  be  expended  to  support  private  commerce,  what  limit  shall  be  assigned 
to  the  application  of  this  principle?  The  precedent,  if  adopted  for  the  benefit  of  the  Col- 
lins line,  like  every  other  bad  precedent,  will  be  the  fruitful  parent  of  a  pernicious  brood  of 
laws,  and  will  engraft  a  radically  false  policy  upon  the  legislation  of  the  country. 

;i  Sir,  in  my  judgment  the  proposition  before  the  committee  involves  the  highest  interests 
of  trade  and  the  true  policy  of  America.  As  we  shall  decide  it,  so  will  we  determine  whether  . 
commerce  shall  be  free  or  fettered  ;  whether  the  carrying  trade  of  the  country  shall  be  fast- 
ened upon  the  public  treasury;  whether  the  free  ocean  shall  be  covered  with  the  hulls  of 
commercial  monopolies,  wielded  by  the  power  of  the  Government,  and  levelled  against  the 
enterprise  of  its  own  citizens." 

Having  exhibited  elaborate  tables  to  show  the  present  character  and  cost 
of  the.  ocean  postal  service,  and  of  the  additional  expense  of  similar  propo- 
sitions pending  before  Congress,  he  says  :  "  These  lines  will  involve  a 
yearly  expenditure  to  the  government  above  the  present  contracts  of  at 
least  four  and  a  half  millions  of  dollars.  This  estimate  is  sufficiently  low, 
though  not,  perhaps,  strictly  accurate,  because  all  the  applicants  have  not 
specified  the  compensation.  If  to  this  amount  be  added  the  present  ap- 
propriations, we  have  a  total  annual  expenditure  for  this  single  branch  oi 
the  public  service  of  about  six  millions  of  dollars,  and  after  these  are  estab- 
lished we  shall,  doubtless,  as  heretofore,  have  numerous  applications  for 
new  lines,  pressed  with  great  industry  and  ability,  as  well  as  for  increased 
pay  to  those  already  in  operation." 

Besides,  however,  exposing  the  vast  expenditures  which  the  proposed 
system  involved — a  system  exceeding,  "  both  in  the  number  of  lines  and 
amount  of  appropriations  to  them,  the  whole  net  work  of  navigation,  with 
•which  we  are  told  England  has  encompassed  the  globe" — in  continuing  his 
speech,  Mr.  Breckinridge  showed  how  the  steam  interest  had  escaped  the 
responsibility  of  their  first  engagement  to  furnish  an  auxiliary  steam  navy, 
and  he  proved,  by  official  data,  that  the  vessels  built  by  Collins  &  Sloo, 
and  others,  for  naval  service,  were  unfit  for  that  purpose. 

In  the  course  of  his  able  argument,  which  exposed  the  unconsti- 
tutionality,  extravagance,  and  inexpediency  of  granting  this  gratuity, 
he  paid  a  beautiful  compliment  to  our  navy  and  commercial  marine. 
He  said: 

"  I  am  a  friend  to  our  commerce,  and  favorable  to  all  proper  facilities  for  extending  our 
communications  with  foreign  countries ;  I  am  a  friend,  also,  of  the  navy.  The  history  of 
my  country  presents  too  many  pages  adorned  by  its  achievements,  to  allow  me  to  speak 
aught  in  its  disparagement.  I  never  can  be  false  to  the  memories  that  connect  it  with  tke 


13 

A  / 

crisis  of  177G  and  1812,  nor  ever  forget  that  when  the  commerce  of  America  retired  from  aH 
the  seas,  and  hid  itself  under  embargoes  and  nets  of  non-intercourse,  our  gallant  navy  con- 
tended, not  inprloriously,  with  the  first  power  in  Christendom,  and  avenged  the  wrongs  \?e 
had  long  suffered  from  England. 

•'  I  am  by  no  means  insensible  to  the  national  honor  and  commercial  renown  which  the 
Collins  steamers  have  conferred  upon  our  country.  In  common  with  others,  I  have  exulted 
over  the  victory  in  steam  navigation  won  -by  them  for  America,  and  should  regret  to  learn 
that  the  enterprising- capitalists  to  whom  they  owe  their  existence  had  sustained  losses  from 
their  princely  adventure.  My  sympathies  are  warmly  enlisted  for  those  who  have  contended 
so  nobly  with  the  lirst  naval  power  on  earth  for  the  mastery  of  the  seas.  But  are  such 
sympathies  a  proper  basis  for  legislation,  when,  too,  that  legislation  must  impose  stiH 
greater  burdens  upon  the  people.  Admit  the  plea  in  one  case  ;  legislate  away  five  hundred 
thousand  dollars  upon  it  from  an  almost  exhausted  Treasury  in  one  instance,  and  where  are 
you  to  step  '!  \\  Lire  is  the  builder,  and  where  are  the  owners  of  the  yatch  'Arneiico,'  which 
lately  won  such  brilliant  honors  in  English  waters?  With  what  consistency  could  Congress 
deny  financial  aid  and  protection  to  them,  when  demanded  upon  the  ground  that  they,  top,, 
had  conierud  natioral  honcr and  naval  glory  upon  our  country?  The  pride  of  Britain 
boasting  that  she  holds  the  trident  of  the  seas,  was  not  more  humbled  by  our  triumph  in 
steam  navigation,  than  it  was  in  August  last  by  the  success  of  that  little  American  craft, 
built  in  New  York  by  American  shipwrights,  and  manned  in  England  by  American  free- 
men. The  British  people  have  spent  centuries  in  peifecting  their  sailing  vessels,  and  Eng- 
lish supremacy  on  the  ocean  has  been  the  cherished  object  of  national  desire.  One  of  her 
poets  sang,  in  €xultiug  strains — 

'  Her  march  is  o'er  the  mountain  ware, 
Her  homo  is  ou  the  deep.' 

But  such  n  boast  is  now  idle;  Albion  no  longer  'rules  the  wave.'  The  last  plank  to 
which  she  clung  was  wrested  from  her  by  an  American  shipwright  and  by  American  indi- 
ridual  enterprise." 

Having  shown  that  all  such  paynfents  from  the  public  treasury  as  con- 
templated by  the  ocean  mail  service  were  made  "  to  private  individuals, 
for  the  construction  of  private  ships  for  private  gains,"  he  continued:  ulfany 
reference  to  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States  may  be  made  in  these 
days  of  magnificent  monopolies  and  wholesale  plunder,  without  calling  up 
a  smile  of  derision,  I  would  inquire  where  that  instrument  confers  the 
power  to  give  such  gratuities  ?  And  I  desire  to  be  pointed  to  the -clause 
empowering  us-  to  tax  one  interest  for  the  purpose  of  building  up  another. 
I  put  the  question  to  Republicans  everywhere,  and  especially  do  I  com- 
mend it  to  gentlemen  of  the  Democratic  party — a  party  whose  cardinal 
principles  have  ever  been  in  direct  conflict  with  such  abuses." 

Heroically  resisting  the  influences  around  him,  with  an  eye  single  to 
his  country's  weal  and  renown,  the  impassioned  orator  closed  his 
powerful  speech  on  this  occasion  in  the  following  manner : 

"  Mr.  Chairman,  this  amendment  may  pass  this  House,  as  it  has  passed  the  Senate.  I  know 
the  power  of  the  influences  at  work  in  its  favor;  personal  friendships,  local  interests,  con- 
tinued solicitations — all  these  are  actively  exerted,  and  are  hard  to  resist.  You  may  suc- 
ceed in  giving  to  the  Collins  line  alone  nearly  one  million  of  dollars  a  year;  you  may  suc- 
ceed in  maintaining  a  little  longer  this  ocean  aristocracy,  supported,  like  the  British  nobility, 
by  the  sweat  of  the  people,  but  the  day  of  its  destruction  will  come.  Every  step  taken  in 
continuation  of  this  system  increases  the  number  to  be  retraced,  because  a  principle  which 
is  both  false  to  our  destiny,  and  unjust,  cannot  find  a  permanent  resting  place  in  the  Amer- 
ican statute  book.  When  the  country  comes  to  understand  and  realize  the  effects  of  this 
legislation,  it  will  demand  its  instant  and  final  repeal. 

••  Mr.  Chairman,  the  time  will  not  allow  me  to  pursue  this  subject  further,  nor  to  speak  of 
other  abuses  now  weighing  down  the  Government.  The  universal  tendency  among  those 
who  hold  delegated  power  in  a  country  whose  resources  are  ample,  is  to  extravagance.  It 
is  time  again  to  inscribe  on  our  banners  ECONOMY,  RETRENCHMENT,  REFORM  ;  and  for  one,  I 
will  labor  faithfully  with  those  who,  instead  of  constantly  seeking  for  new  resources  of  ex- 
penditure, shall  strive  to  curtail  the  already  enormous  cost  of  this  Government." 

The  President  sustained  the  grounds  taken  by  Mr.  Breckinridge,  in  his 
veto  message,  from  which  the  following  extract  is  made : 


14 

\  -  v 

"  This  bill  will,  in  effect,  confer  a  gratuity,  whilst  nominally  making  provision  for  the 
transportation  of  the  mails  of  the  United  States. 

"  To  provide  for  making  a  donation  of  such  magnitude,  and  to  give  to  the  arrangement 
the  character  of  permanence  which  this  bill  proposes,  would  be  to  deprive  commercial  en- 
terprise of  the  benefits  of  free  competition,  and  to  establish  a  monopoly1,  in  violation  of  the 
soundest  principles  of  public  policy,  and  of  doubtful  compatibility  with  the  Constitution." 

Not  receiving  the  requisite  two-thirds  on  the  taking  the  vote  on  the 
receipt  of  the  veto  message,  the  bill  failed  to  become  a  law. 

The  little  opportunity  afforded  Mr.  Breckinridge,  owing  to  the  universal 
acquiesence  of  the  Democratic  party  in  the  tariff  of  1846,  to  participate 
in  any  Congressional  discussion  upon  that  subject,  accounts  for  the  .absence 
from  his  record  of  anything  with  reference  thereto,  except  in  a  single  and 
important  instance. 

In  1854  an  immense  lobby  congregated  at  Washington,  in  the  pay  of 
the  vast  interests  desiring  the  repeal  of  the  duty  on  railroad  iron,  with  the 
selfish  purpose  of  enriching  themselves  out  of  the  immense  amount  of  the 
depletion  in  the  revenues  of  the  country  which  would  follow  their  success. 

Mr.  Breckinridge  being  opposed  to  special  legislation  in  all  its  forms, 
but  more  particularly  where  it  proposed  to  disturb  a  well-composed  system 
of  acquiring  revenue  at  the  mere  demand  of  rich  capitalists,  and  always 
opposing  a  firm  resistance  to  the  march  of  the  lobbyist  against  the  integ- 
rity of  legislation,  took  an  active  part  in  defeating  the  bill  for  that  pur- 
pose, and  succeeded  by  his  untiring  energy  and  great  influence  in  the  House 
in  killing  it. 

His  tribute  to  the  character  and  services  of  Henry  Clay,  upon  in- 
troducing resolutions  of  respect  to  his  memory,  the  day  after  his  death 
in  Washington,  was  the  most  beautiful,  touching,  and  eloquent  ever 
delivered  in  the  Halls  of  Congress.  When  the  tall,  manly,  and  dig- 
nified .form  of  the  young  orator  arose  to  offer  the  resolutions,  every 
eye  was  turned  upon  him ;  a  breathless  silence  pervaded  the  Hall  and 
the  crowded  auditory  in  the  galleries,  and,  as  he  portrayed,  "in  thoughts 
that  breathe  and  words  that  burn,"  the  virtues  and  talents  of  the  illus- 
trious orator  and  statesman  of  Kentucky,  and  mourned  the  nation's 
loss  of  this  great  man,  many  an  eye  was  bathed  in  tears,  and  many  a 
bosom  heaved  with  emotion,  in  response  to  his  glowing  eulogy  upon 
the  departed  statesman,  orator,  and  patriot. 

The  hand  of  no  master  ever  painted  a  more  faithful,  life-like  portrait 
than  is  to  be  found  in  the  vivid  delineation  of  the  character  of  the  un- 
rivalled orator  and  statesman,  Henry  Clay,  when  Mr.  Breckinridge 
said: 

"  As  a  leader  in  a  deliberative  body,  Mr.  Clay  had  no  equal  in  America.  In  him,  intellect, 
person,  eloquence  and  courage  united  to  form  a  character  fit  to  command.  He  fired  with 
his  own  enthusiasm  and  controlled  by  his  amazing  will,  individuals  and  masses.  No  reverse 
could  crush  his  spirit,  nor  defeat  reduce  him  to  despair.  Equally  erect  and  dauntless  in  pros- 
perity and  adversity — when  successful,  he  moved  to  the  accomplishment  of  his  purposes  with 
more  resolution;  when  defeated,  he  lallied  his  broken  bands  around  him,  and  from  his  eagle 
eye  shot  along  their  ranks  the  contagion  of  his  own  courage.  Destined  for  a  leader,  he  every- 
where asserted  his  destiny.  In  his  long  and  eventful  life  he  came  in  contact  with  men  of  all 
ranks  and  professions,  but  he  never  felt  that  he  was  in  the  presence  of  a  man  superior  to  him- 
self. In  the  assemblies  of  the  people,  at  the  bar,  in  the  Senate,  everywhere  within  the  circle 
of  his  personal  presence,  he  assumed  and  maintained  a  position  of  pre-eminence. 

"  But  the  supremacy  of  Mr.  Clay  as  a  party  leader  was  not  his  only  nor  his  highest  title  to 
renown.  That  title  is'to  be  found  in  the  purely  patriotic  spirit  which,  on  great  occasions, 


15 

-  .  us  signalized  his  conduct.  We  have  had  no  statesman  who,  in  periods  ot  real  and  im- 
minent public  peril,  has  exhibited  a  more  genuine  and  enlarged  patriotism  than  Henry  Clay. 
Whenever  a  question  presented  itself  actually  threatening  the  existence  of  the  Union,  Mr. 
Clay,  rising  above  the  passions  of  the  hour,  always  exerted  his  powers  to  solve  it,  peacefully 
and  honorably.  Although  more  liable  than  most  men,  from  his  impetuous  and  ardent  nature, 
to  feel  strongly  the  passions  common  to  us  all,  it  was  his  rare  faculty  to  be  able  to  subdue 
them  in  a  great  crisis,  and  to  hold  towards  all  sections  of  the  Confederacy  the  language  of 
concord  and  brotherhood. 

"Sir,  it  will  be  a  proud  pleasure  to  every  true  American  heart  to  remember  the  gre'at  oc- 
casions when  Mr.  Clay  has  displayed  a  sublime  patriotism — when  the  ill-temper  engendered 
by  the  times  and  the  miserable  jealousies  of  the  day  seemed  to  have  been  driven  from  his 
bosom  by  the  repulsive  power  of  nobler  feelings — when  every  throb  of  his  heart  was 
given  to  his  country,  every  effort  of  his  intellect  dedicated  to  her  service!  Who  does  not  re- 
member the  three  periods  when  the  American  system  of  government  was  exposed  to  its  se- 
verest trials ;  and  who  does  not  know,  that  when  history  shall  relate  the  struggles  which 
preceded  and  the  dangers  which  were  averted  by  the  Missouri  compromise,  the  Tariff  compro- 
mise of  1832,  and  the  Adjustment  of  1850,  the  same  pages  will  record  the  genius,  the  elo- 
quence, and  the  patriotism  of  Henry  Clay? 

"  The  life  of  Mr.  Clay,  sir.  is  a  striking  example  of  the  abiding  fame  which  surely  awaits 
the  direct  and  candid  statesman.  The  entire  absence  of  equivocation  or  disguise  in  all  his 
acts  was  his  master  key  to  the  popular  heart ;  for,  while  the  people  will  forgive  the  errors  of  a 
bold  and  open  nature,  he  sins  past  forgiveness  who  deliberately  deceives  them.  Hence,  Mr. 
Clay,  though  often  defeated  in  his  measures  of  policy,  always  secured  the  respect  of  his  oppo- 
nents, without  losing  the  confidence  of  his  friends.  He  never  paltered  in  a  double  sense.  The 
country  was  never  in  doubt  as  to  his  opinions  or  his  purposes.  In  all  the  contests  of  his  time, 
his  position  on  great  public  questions  was  as  clear  as  the  sun  in  a  cloudless  sky. 

"Sir,  standing  by  the  grave  of  this  great  man,  and  considering  these  things,  how  con- 
temptible does  appear  the  mere  legerdemain  of  politics  !  What  a  reproach  is  his  life  on  that 
false  policy  which  would  trifle  with  a  great  and  upright  people !  If  I  were  to  write  his 
epitaph,  I  would  inscribe,  as  the  highest  eulogy,  on  the  stone  which  shall  mark  his  resting- 
place  :  '  Here  lies  a  man  who  was  in  the  public  service  for  fifty  years,  'and  never  attempted  to 
deceive  his  countrymen.'  " 

It  may  be  remembered  tbat  the  relations  between  Mr.  Clay  and  Mr. 
Breckin ridge  were  of  the  most  cordial  and  friendly  character.  We 
have  already  mentioned  the  support  given  him  by  that  statesman  upon 
his  election  to  the  Kentucky  Legislature;  and  we  may  add,  that  Mr. 
Breckinridge  was  much  with  him  in  the  latter  years  and  closing  scenes 
of  his  life,  and  always  cherished  a  sincere  admiration  for  his  talents, 
and  veneration  for  his  virtues. 

During  the  second  term  for  which  Mr.  Breckinridge  was  elected  to 
Congress,  he  was  nominated  by  President  Pierce,  and  confirmed  by  the 
Senate,  as  Minister  to  Spain;  but  he  declined  the  honor,  preferring  to 
comply  with  his  representative  pledge  to  the  people  who  had  elected 
him. 

After  four  years  of  continuous  service  in  Congress,  where  he  demon- 
strated his  high  qualities  as  a  statesman,  and  his  power  as  a  brilliant 
orator,  he  retired  again  from  public  life,  and  resumed  the  practice  of 
the  law. 

In  the  language  of  a  speech  made  by  him,  in  1855,  he  said  : 

"During  the  past  four  years,  in  which  he  was  wholly  devoted  to  public  life,  his  private 
affairs  and  the  health  of  his  family  had  so  suffered,  as  to  have  left  him  without  a  choice,  but 
•ompelled  him,  by  the  highest  obligations  he  could  recognize,  to  retire  from  a  position  in 
which  he  must  neglect  the  care  he  owed  to  one  whom  it  was  his  first  duty  to  cherish." 

To  show  how  he  was  esteemed,  even  by  his  political  opponents,  we 
give  the  following  extract  from  the  Louisville  Journal,  edited  by  the 
talented  Prentice : 

"  We  believe  him  to  be  a  conscientious  and  honorable  as  well  as  a  most  able  man.  We 
have  been  half-afraid,  during  the  canvass,  to  express  fully  our  opinion  of  him,  lest  our  Whig 
friends  in  his  district,  and  elsewhere,  might  deem  it  untrue  to  the  interest  of  our  party,  *  * 


16 

Mr.  Breckinridge  is  a  pure  and  noble-hearted  man,  and  a  liberal-minded  politician ;  he  '  -*° 
earned  and  won  at  home,  and  at  Washington,  as  high  a  reputation  for  talents  as  belongs  to 
any  man  of  his  age  in  the  United  States.  *  *  The  Hon.  John  C.  Breckinridge,  in  a  fetter 
to 'his  constituents,  declines  a  re-election  to  Congress.  He  will  be  much  missed  in  that  body. 
His  great  urbanity,  his  perfect  fairness,  and  his  powerful  talents,  made  him  one  of  the  very 
foremost  of  its  master-spirits.  He  has  a  national  reputation,  and  nobly  has  he  won  it." 

Mr.  Breckinridge  was  chosen  oqe  of  the  delegates  from  Kentucky  to  the 
Cincinnati  Convention.  Thecircumstancesuuder  which  he  was  nominated 
by  that  Convention  for  Vice  President  of  the  United  States,  we  give  from 
John  Savage's  book,  styled  "Our  Living  Representative  Men."  After 
the  nomination  of  Buchanan  for  the  Presidency,  several  names  were  of- 
fered for  the  second  office — among  others,  that  of  John  C.  Breckinridge, 
proposed  by  the  Louisiana  delegation,  through  General  J.  L.  Lewis. 
Acknowledging  the  flattering  manifestation  of  good  will,  Mr.  Breckin- 
ridge begged  that  his  name  would  be  withdrawn.  On  the  first  ballot, 
however,  the  Vermont  delegation,  through  Mr.  Smalley,  believing  that 
no  Democrat  has  a  right  to  refuse  his  services  when  his  country  calls, 
cast  its  five  votes  for  Breckinridge.  Many  other  States  followed;  and 
of  the  total  he  received  fifty-one  votes — second  on  the  list,  and  only 
eight  under  the  first,  General  Quitman.  On  the  second  ballot,  Maine, 
New  Hampshire,  and  Vermont  led  off  for  Breckinridge;  Massachusetts 
followed,  with  eleven  out  of  thirteen  votes.  Rhode  Island  followed,  with 
her  four;  then  tjhe  New  York  Softs  gave  him  eighteen;  Delaware, 
Maryland,  and  Virginia  voting  in  the  same  way.  It  became  quite  ob- 
vious that  he  was  the  choice  of  the  body;  and  though  several  of  the 
remaining  States  voted  for  other  candidates,  they  quickly,  one  by  one, 
changed  their  votes — the  several  delegates  making  neat  and  appropriate 
speeches  in  announcing  the  change.  The  names  of  other  candidates 
were  withdrawn,  and  the  whole  poll  went  for  John  C.  Breckinridge; 
at  which  the  Convention  rose,  and  with  waving  of  handkerchieis  and 
the  loudest  vocal  demonstrations  directed  its  attention  upon  the  tall 
and  graceful  delegate  from  Kentucky,  who  had  been  so  unexpectedly 
nominated  for  so  exalted  a  post.  It  was  long  before  the  demonstrations 
subsided,  so  as  to  allow  a  word  to  be  heard.  At  last,  the  commanding 
figure  of  Mr.  Breckinridge  stood,  fronting  the  mighty  triumph.  It 
certainly  was  a  time  to  try  a  young  man.  He  spoke  briefly  and  be- 
comingly. The  result  just  announced  was  unexpected,  and  his  pro- 
found gratitude  was  without  words.  He  gave  the  Convention  the 
simple  thanks  of  a  true  heart;  and  expressing  his  appreciation  of  their 
first  choice,  and  linking  his  humble  name  with  that  of  the  tried  states- 
man of  Pennsylvania,  cordially  endorsed  the  platform,  and  sat  down 
amid  the  booming  of  cannon  and  the  vociferous  applause  of  the  multi- 
tude outside,  breaking  in  upon  and  almost  overpowering  the  loud 
cheers  within  the  hall. 

By  virtue  of  the  office  of  Vice  President,  Mr.  Breckinridge  is  President 
of  the  Senate;  but  can  take  no  part  in  its  deliberations.  With  a  com- 
manding person,  a  full  and  melodious  voice,  and  a  quick  perception,  no 
officer  has  ever  presided  over  that  august  body  with  more  graceful 
dignity  and  impartiality,  is  the  universal  sentiment. 

Upon  the  removal  of  the  Senate  from  its  old  and  time-honored  cham- 
ber to  the  new  and  beautiful  chamber  where  it  holds  its  meetings,  Vice 


17    , 

President  Brcckinridge  delivered  an  address,  replete  with  noble  and 
patriotic  sentiments,  clothed  in  language  remarkable  for  its  purity  and 
beauty,  and  closed  with  the  following  stirring  appeal  to  Senators  to 
preserve  the  Constitution. 

"And  no\v,  Senators,  we  leave  this  memorable  chamber,  bearing  with  us,  unimpaired,  the 
Constitution  we  received  from  our  forefathers.  Let  us  cherish  it  with  grateful  acknowledgments 
to  the  Divine  Power  who  controls  the  destinies  of  empires,  and  whose  goodness  we  adore. 
The  structures  raised  by  men  yield  to  the  corroding  tooth  of  time.  These  marble  walls  must 
moulder  into  ruin;  but  the  principles  of  constitutional  liberty,  guarded  by  wisdom  and  virtue, 
unlike  material  elements,  do  not  decay.  Let  us  devotedly  trust  that  another  Senate,  in 
another  age,  shall  bear  to  anew  and  larger  chamber,  this  Constitution,  vigorous  and  inviolate, 
and  that  the  last  generation  of  posterity  shall  witness  the  deliberations  of  the  Representatives 
of  American  States,  still  united,  prosperous,  and  free." 

With  that  modesty  and  diffidence  which  ever  characterizes  merit, 
John  C.  Breckinridge  has  never  sought  any  of  the  responsible  offices 
and  distinguished  honors  which  the  American  people  have  conferred 
upon  him,  as  a  willing  tribute  to  his  talents,  his  patriotism,  and  hie 
integrity.  He  has  rather  avoided  than  courted  them.  In  a  speech 
which  he  delivered  in  the  hall  of  the  House  of  Representatives,  at 
Frankfort,  Ky.,  December  21,  1859,  after  his  election  as  United  States 
Senator,  he  feelingly  and  beautifully  returns  his  thanks  for  the  honor 
conferred,  pays  a  just  tribute  to  the  merits  of  his  competitors,  and 
clearly  and  forcibly  defines  his  views  upon  the  great  and  absorbing 
question  of  the  equality  of  all  the  States  in  the  Territories,  purchased 
by  the  common  treasure  and  blood  of  all.  We  quote  the  following: 

"This  election  occurred  in  my  absence.  If  I  had  been  in  private  life,  it  would  have 
given  me  pleasure  to  mingle  personally  and  interchange  opinions  with  my  fellow- citizens 
here.  But  under  existing  circumstances,  I  thought  it  more  respectful  to  the  Legislature,* 
to  remain  where  my  public  duties  called  me. 

"It  is  probably  not  necessary,  yet  I  am  sure  every  generous  spirit  will  pardon  me  for 
referring  to  some  vague  rumors  which  have  reached  my  ears,  tracable  to  no  distinct 
source,  and  apparently  owning  no  respectable  parentage,  to  the  effect  that  my  election 
was  the  result  of  some  understanding  or  arrangement  between  certain  distinguished  gen- 
tlemen and  myself,  or  between  their  triends  and  mine.  Nothing  could  be  more  unjust 
and  insulting  to  you.  and  to  all  embraced  by  the  imputation.  Standing  in  the  presence 
of  the  men  who  elected  me,  I  pronounce  these  rumors  to  be  wholly  unfounded  and  false  ; 
and  for  myself,  I  publicly  declare  that  I  have  not,  in  connection  with  these  proceedings, 
said,  written,  or  done  anything  which  I  am  unwilling  should  be  known  to  the  whole  Leg- 
islature. This  trust  was  your  free  gift,  and  when  it  came  to  my  hands  I  received  it  un- 
stained by  the  slightest  taint  of  bargain  or  intrigue.  I  acceptat,  proudly,  gratefully — 
happy  to  be  associated  in  the  public  service  with  your  admirable  delegation  in  the  House 
of  Representatives,  and  the  able  and  true-hearted  gentleman  who  will  be  my  colleague 
in  the  Senate ;  and  with  a  loyal  purpose  to  deserve  your  confidence. 

A  breathless  silence  pervaded  the  immense  auditory  of  Representa- 
tives and  citizens,  as  they  listened  with  the  deepest  attention  to  this 
masterly  effort.  With  his  eye  beaming  and  his  heart  glowing  with 
patriotic  devotion  to  the  Constitution  and  Union,  Mr.  Breckinridge 
closed  with  a  soul-stirring  appeal  to  the  national  and  conservative  men 
of  all  creeds  to  unite  in  the  overthrow  of  the  Republican  organization, 
whose  doctrines  if  carried  out  will  sap  the  very  foundations  of  our 
Government.  He  said : 

"The  first  duty  of  all  who  love  their  country  is  to  overthrow  the  Republican  party;  and 
\vith  this  conviction  I  should  be  untrue  to  Kentucky,  if  I  did  not  plead  for  the  union  of  all 
opposed  to  that  dangerous  organization  ;  and  to  fall  to  pieces  on  questions  of  less  magnitude 
than  its  defeat,  is  to  surrender  to  its  domination,  and  all  the  fatal  consequences  that  may 


18 

"There  is  another  element  at  the  North,  not  large,  but  noble  and  tme.  It  consists  of  the 
scattered  cohorts  of  the  old  Whig  party — of  men  like  Everett,  Choate,  and  their  associates — 
whose  conservatism,  culture,  and  patriotism  rebelled  against  the  Republican  alliance.  Besides, 
there  are  many  thousands  in  the  Northern  States  who  seldom  attend  the  polls,  and  whose 
voices  have  not  been  heard  amidst  the  clamors  that  surround  them.  To  all  these  let  us  appeal, 
lot  us  solemnly  demand  a  general  revolt  of  the  virtue  and  loyalty  of  the  country  against  the 
pernicious  principles  that  threaten  its  safety;  and  when  all  the  forces  are  arrayed  in  their 
proper  ranks,  we  shall  be  able  to  see  what  remains  to  hope  or  fear. 

"For  myself  I  cherish  a  buoj^ant  hope  in  the  destiny  of  our  common  country.  It  is  not  well 
to  doubt  that  the  good  Providence  which  has  protected  us  in  the  past  will  take  care  of  us  in 
the  future,  and  out  of  these  commotions  will  lead  us  to  an  era  of  tranquillity  and  peace." 

The  tried,  trusty,  and  successful  leader,  in  many  a  hard-fought 
battle,  the  Democracy  at  Baltimore,  with  a  unanimity  as  flattering 
as.it  was  just,  selected  Major  Breckinridge  as  their  standard-bearer  in 
the  approaching  Presidential  contest.  Shrinking  from  no  responsibili- 
ties which  his  country  would  impose  upon  him,  he  nobly  accepts  the  post 
in  his  letter  of  acceptance  of  the  nomination  for  the  Presidency,  which 
so  forcibly  elucidates  the  true  principles  upon  which  this  Government 
should  be  administered.  He  truthfully  says  : 

"I  have  not  sought  or  desired  to  be  placed  before  the  country  for  the  office  of  President. 
When  my  name  was  presented  to  the  Convention  at  Charleston,  it  was  withdrawn  by  a  friend 
in  obedience  to  my  wishes.  My  views  had  not  changed  when  the  Convention  reassembled  at 
Baltimore ;  and  when  I  heard  of  the  differences  which  occurred  there,  my  indisposition  to  be 
connected  prominently  with  the  canvass  was  confirmed  and  expressed  to  many  friends. 

."Without  discussing  the  occurrences  which  preceded  the  nominations,  and  which  are,  or 
soon  will  be,  well  understood  by  the  country,  I  have  only  to  say  that  I  approved,  as  just  and 
necessary  to  the  preservation  of  the  national  organization  and  the  sacred  right  of  representa- 
tion, the  act  of  the  Convention  over  which  you  continued  to  preside,  and  thus  approving  it, 
and  having  resolved  to  sustain  it,  I  feel  that  it  does  not  become  me  to  select  the  position  I 
shall  occupy,  nor  to  shrink  from  the  responsibilities  of  the  post  to  which  I  have  been  assigned. 
Accordingly  I  accept  the  nomination  from  a  sense  of  public  duty,  and,  as  I  think,  uninfluenced 
4n  any  degree  by  the  allurements  of  ambition. 

"I  avail  myself  of  this  occasion  to  say,  that  the  confidence  in  my  personal  and  public  cjaar- 
acter,  implied  by  the  action  of  the  Convention,  will  always  be  gratefully  remembered;  and  it 
is  but  just  also  to  my  own  feelings  to  express  my  gratification  at  the  association  of  my  name 
with  that  of  my  friend  General  Lane,  a  patriot  and  a  soldier,  whose  great  service  in  the  field 
and  in  council  entitle  him  to  the  gratitude  and  confidence  of  his  countrymen. 

"The  resolutions  adopted  by  the  Convention  have  my  cordial  approval.  They  are  just  to 
all  parts  of  the  Union,  to  all  our  citizens,  native  and  naturalized,  and  they  form  a  noble  policy 
for  any  administration." 

It  has  been  the  purpose  of  this  brief  memoir  of  the  life  of  Mr.  Breck- 
inridge to  present  him  as  he  is — to  exhibit  his  public  character  by  his 
public  acts.  Left  an  orphan  in  his  early  years,  with  a  mother  and  her 
little  ones  dependent  upon  him,  he  is  found  steadily  and  valiantly  fronting 
adversity,  and,  almost  entirely  by  his  own  exertions,  laying  the  broad 
foundations  of  his  future  usefulness.  All  the  elements  of  a  great  and 
noble  character  seem  blended  in  him — truth,  generosity,  prudence,  judg- 
ment, intrepidity,  a  devoted  love  of  his  country.  It  would  seem  that  he 
was  the  fruit  of  the  generations  of  valor,  patriotism,  and  learning  from 
which  he  sprang.  In  the  conflicts  of  war  and  peace  he  has  never  shrank 
from  danger  or  responsibility ;  but  has  intrepidly  encountered  them,  and 
always  triumphantly  achieved  his  aim.  Yet  so  considerate  and  just  has 
he  been  to  all,  that  he  has  rarely  had,  and  never  deserved  to  have,  an 
enemy.  To  provide  and  care  for  those  nearest  and  dearest  to  him,  he 
retired  to  private  life ;  to  fulfil  his  pledges  to  constituents,  he  declined 
honorable  and  high  positions.  He  has  resisted  firmly  the  seductions  of 
flattery ;  and  when  grave  and  more  experienced  men  yielded  to  the  allure- 
ments of  interest,  or  were  influenced  by  the  appliances  of  the  hungry 


19 

leeches  of  the  public  treasury,  he  was  the  censor,  rebuking  the  departure 
from  the  principles  of  the  fathers,  and  calling  men  back  to  the  funda- 
mental doctrines  of  economy,  sobriety,  and  frugality  in  the  management 
of  the  affairs  of  the  government.  In  the  early  prime  of  his  manhood,  -we 
find  him  invoking  reverence  for  years  and  services,  and  holding  up  to  re- 
buke and  indignation  the  attempt  to  bring  into  disrespect  with  the  people 
men  that  had  dedicated  to  them  long  years  of  service.  Is  he  not  a  char- 
acter fitted  for  this  critical  emergency  of  our  history,  when  factions  rend 
the  land,  and  the  two  portions  of  our  Confederacy  are  looking  threateningly 
into  each  others'  faces?  On  the  one  side,  a  fierce  and  bitter  determination 
to  impress  an  iron  law  upon  all  these  States ;  and  on  the  other,  an  equal 
determination  to  resist  unto  the  death  this  attempt  at  domination. 

There  are  indeed  other  parties  and  other  candidates,  but  the  contest 
must  ultimately  be  between  these  two.  Who  can  doubt  the  devotion  of 
John  C.  Breckinridge  to  the  Constitution  and  the  union  of  these  States? 
Who  can  doubt  that  he  will  administer  the  government,  if  elected  President, 
with  a  firm  and  vigorous  hand ;  with  a  lofty  patriotism  ;  with  a  purity  and 
a  forecast  worthy  the  early  days  of  the  republic  ? 

It  is  right  that  the  young  man  who  defended  age  and  service  should 
succeed  one  of  the  very  eminent  men  he  defended,  and  that  he  should  do 
so  at  a  period  of  life,  when  a  mature  judgment  and  a  large  experience  are 
united  with  the  highest  physical  strength  and  development. 

We  will  relate  an  incident  which  occurred  during  the  last  days  of 
that  distinguished  man,  Henry  Clay,  which,  while  it  illustrates  hii 
sagacity,  the  subsequent  career  of  the  youthful  Breckinridge  attests 
the  truth  of  his  prophetic  remark. 

A  gentleman  who  was  constantly  with  Mr.  Clay  during  his  last 
illness,  states  that,  upon  going  into  his  room  one  day,  he  found  Mr. 
Breckinridge  sitting  by  the  bedside  of  the  dying  statesman,  reading 
aloud  to  him.  After  Mr.  Breckinridge  left  the  room,  Mr.  Clay  said: 
"That  young  man  is  serving  now  his  first  term  in  Congress;  I  per- 
ceive in  him  so  much  judgment  and  talent,  so  many  of  the  elements 
of  true  statesmanship,  that  I  clearly  foresee  he  will  yearly  grow  in 
the  confidence  and  esteem  of  his  countrymen,  and  eventually  receive 
the  highest  honors  it  is  in  their  power  to  bestow." 

The  prediction,  now  partly  accomplished,  will  doubtless  he  com- 
pletely fulfilled  in  November  next,  when  the  people  speak  their  sen- 
timents at  the  ballot-box. 

In  the  glowing  language  of  the  eloquent  and  gifted  Kentuckian,  let  our 
motto  be  "THE  CONSTITUTION  AND  THE  EQUALITY  OF  THE  STATES;  THESE 

ARE  THE  SYMBOLS  OF  EVERLASTING  UNION;  LET  THESE  BE  THE  RALLYING 
CRIES  OF  THE  PEOPLE." 


BIOGBAPHICAL  SKETCH 


OF 


GENERAL   JOSEPH    LANE, 

OF1    OREGON. 


General  Lane,  tlie  nominee  of  the 
National  Democratic  Convention  at 
Baltimore  for  Vice  President  of  the 
United  States,  is  one  of  the  most  re- 
markable men  of  the  age.  His  history 
is  a  fine  illustration  of  the  genius  of 
our  institutions,  and  demonstrates 
that  the  high  places  of  honor  and  dis- 
tinction are  accessible  to  all  who  pos- 
sess ability,  energy  and  perseverance. 
General  Lane  descended  from  Kev- 
olutionary  ancestors  ;  was  born  in  the 
State  of  North  Carolina,  on  the  14th 
of  December,  1801.  In  1804  his 
father  emigrated  with  his  family  to 
Kentucky,  where  the  hero  and  states- 
man was  reared  and  educated.  Having  received  a  substantial  edu- 
cation he  removed  to  Indiana  and  settled  on  the  hanks  of  the  Ohio, 
in  the  county  of  Vandenburg,  where,  without  the  adventitious  aid  of 
fame,  family,  or  fortune,  he  worked  his  way  from  an  humble  plowboy 
and  flatboatman  on  the  Mississippi  to  his  present  distinguished  po- 
sition. 

If  any  man  can  be  styled  a  man  of  the  people  General  Lane  is  truly 
that  man.  Through  a  period  of  more  than  a  quarter  of  a  century 
the  people  have  evinced  their  admiration  for  the  sterling  honesty  of 
his  character,  the  strength  of  his  intellect,  and  his  pure  and  unselfish 
patriotism  by  clothing  him  with  trusts  of  great  responsibility  and 
honor,  which  he  has  performed  with  signal  ability  and  success.  With 
a  strong  intellect  and  a  mind  eminently  practical,  with  an  honest, 
manly,  and  generous  heart,  its  every  pulsation  beating  in  sympathy 
with  the  masses,  he  won  the  admiration  and  confidence  of  the  people 
of  Indiana  to  such  a  degree  that,  unsolicited,  before  he  was  twenty- 
one  years  of  age,  they  elected  him  to  the  Legislature  over  their  former 
representative,  who  was  an  able  and  experienced  legislator  and  had 
"been  Speaker  of  the  House  of  Eepresentatives  of  the  State. 

The  strong  and  practical  mind  of  the  youthful  legislator,  taking  a 
liberal,  judicious,  and  statesmanlike  view  of  all  questions  affecting 
State  or  national  interests,  which  he  enforced  with  a  persuasive  elo- 


21 

quence,  soon  made  him  one  of  the  master  spirits  of  the  Legislature, 
when  the  people  were  anxious  to  elevate  him  to  still  higher  posts  in 
the  National  Councils  ;  but  having  no  heritage  hut  poverty  and  an 
honest  name,  with  a  large  and  increasing  family  to  support  and  edu- 
cate, he  had  to  forego  higher  honors  and  a  wider  field  of  usefulness  to 
his  people.  He  continued,  however,  to  represent  the  people  either  in 
the  House  or  the  Senate  of  the  State  for  nearly  a  quarter  of  a  century. 

His  name  is  indissolubly  connected  with  some  of  the  most  impor- 
tant measures  which  developed  the  resources,  advanced  the  prosperity, 
and  improved  the  finances  of  the  State,  especially  his  able  and  suc- 
cessful efforts  to  preserve  untarnished  the  public  faith  and  to  prevent 
the  repudiation  of  the  public  debt,  which  was  boldly  advocated  by 
.  some  of  the  strongest  men  in  Indiana. 

When  the  Mexican  war  broke  out  General  Lane  was  a  member  ot 
the  State  Senate,  and  when  a  requisition  was  made  upon  Indiana  to 
furnish  volunteers  for  the  war,  obedient  to  the  call  of  patriotism,  he 
resigned  his  place  in  the  Senate  and  volunteered  as  a  private  for  the 
war.  When  the  companies  assenfbled  to  organize  and  elect  their 
officers,  such  was  their  unbounded  confidence  in  Joseph  Lane,  that  they 
elected  him  colonel  of  their  regiment,  although  he  had  seen  no  mili- 
itary  service  either  as  a  soldier  or  an  officer.  Before  he  could  put  his 
regiment  in  motion,  President  Polk  illustrated  his  sagacity  by  sending 
him  a  commission  as  Brigadier  General,  a  compliment  as  unexpected 
as  it  was  unsolicited  by  General  Lane. 

The  opponents  of  the  Administration  and  of  the  war,  throughout 
the  country,  denounced  and  ridiculed  the  appointment,  declaring  that 
he  might  make  a  good  general  of  the  flatboatmen  on  the  Mississippi 
river,  but  that  the  idea  of  Jo  Lane,  who  had  never  commanded  a  com- 
pany in  his  life,  taking  command  of  a  brigade  in  war  was  simply 
ridiculous  ;  that  he  would  disgrace  himself,  his'  State  and  the  nation. 
Thus  the  plain,  humble  volunteer,  without  prestige  or  pretension, 
amidst  the  jeers  and  taunts  of  the  Mexican  sympathizers,  set  his  brig- 
ade in  motion  for  the  theatre  of  the  war,  where  he  not  only  falsified 
all  the  predictions  of  his  enemies  and  realized  the  most  sanguine  ex- 
pectations of  his  friends,  but  won  a 'fame  for  daring,  gallantry  and 
successful  generalship  which  has  linked  his  name  with  the  brightest 
history  of  his  country's  renown,  while  his  generosity  to  the  van- 
quished and  solicitude  for  and  care  of  the  sick  and  disabled,  made  him 
universally  popular  with  the  soldiers  and  officers  of  the  army  who, 
scattered  all  over  the  Union,  are  burning  to  signalize  their  apprecia- 
tion of  his  worth,  by  crowning  him  with  the  highest  of  earthly  honors. 

In  less  than  three  weeks  after  General  Lane  received  his  commis- 
sion, he  was  at  the  seat  of  war  with  all  his  troops.  In  communicat- 
ing his  arrival  to  General  Taylor,  he  wrote  him  thus  :  "The  brigade 
I  have  the  honor  to  command  is  generally  in  good  health  and  fine 
spirits,  anxious  to  engage  in  active  service/' 

The  indomitable  energy,  the  self-sacrificing  spirit,  the  sound  judg- 
ment, and  firm  purpose  which  he  displayed  in  the  active  service  of 
civil  life,  were  eminently  conspicuous  in  all  the  stirring  scenes  of  bat- 
tle, blood,  and  carnage,  through  which  he  passed,  illustrated  by  a 


22 

daring  bravery  and  heroism,  which  placed  him  among  the  most  dis- 
tinguished heroes  of  that  memorable  war.  To  recount  the  battles  in 
which  General  Lane  was  engaged,  the  dangers  to  which  he  was  ex- 
posed, the  brave  deeds  he  perlbrmed,  the  skill  and  judgment  with 
which  he  planned  his  battles,  and  the  unvarying  success  with  which 
he  fought  them,  would  consume  more  space  than  we  have  to  spare. 
Such  was  the  celerity  of  his  movements,  the  skill  and  stratagem  of 
his  plans,  the  boldness  and  rapidity  of  their  execution,  and  the 
enthusiasm  and  courage  with  which  he  inspired  his  men,  by  his  im- 
passioned appeals  to  their  valor,  as  they  visited  the  most  fearful 
slaughter  upon  the  enemy,  that  the  name  of  Lane  struck  terror  to  the 
Mexican  heart,  and  by  common  consent  he  was  styled  "the  Marion  of 
the  Mexican  War."  Of  all  the  battles  fought  in  Mexico,  the  battle, 
of  Buena  Vista  was  the  severest  and  most  hotly  contested,  and  one  of 
the  most  remarkable  in  the  annals  of  the  world.  There  the  American 
army,  consisting  of  about  five  thousand,  mostly  raw  militia,  met 
twenty  thousand  of  the  chosen  troops  of  Santa  Anna,  in  deadly  con- 
flict, and  after  a  protracted  struggle  of  two  days,  achieved  a  glorious 
triumph. 

In  that  battle  General  Lane  performed  a  most  important  part.  No 
officer  contributed  more  by  his  gallantry  and  generalship  to  win  the 
fortunes  of  the  day.  Upon  the  left  wing  of  the  American  army 
which  General  Lane  commanded,  Santa  Anna  directed  his  most  obsti- 
nate and  deadly  assaults.  With  but  four  hundred  men  General  Lane 
repulsed  a  large  bo4y  of  Mexicans,  six  thousand  strong.  While 
nothing  could  exceed  the  fearful  array  of  the  assailants,  as  they  moved 
toward  the  little  band  of  Lane,  with  their  long  line  of  infantry,  pre- 
senting a  continued  sheet  of  fire,  nothing  could  surpass  the  undaunted 
firmness  and  bravery  with  which  Lane  and  his  men  maintained  their 
position  and  poured  their  volleys  of  musketry  into  the  advancing  col- 
umns of  the  enemy,  which  made  them  break  and  fall  back.  Through- 
out the  varying  fortunes  of  that  trying  day,  General  Lane  with 
his  little  band  of  heroes  maintained  his  position  and  repulsed  the 
enemy  at  every  point.  On  the  second  day  of  the  battle,  Santa  Anna, 
finding  his  strength  defied  and  his  most  skillful  manoeuvres  defeated, 
as  the  day  was  drawing  to  a  close,  determined  to  make  a  most  despe- 
rate effort  to  turn  the  tide  of  the  battle  in  his  favor.  Collecting  all 
his  infantry,  he  made  a  charge  on  the  Illinois  and  Kentucky  regi- 
ments. Gallantly  did  those  brave  troops  resist  the  onset,  until  seeing 
their  leaders  fall,  and  overpowered  by  numbers,  they  began  to  waver 
and  fall  back.  At  this  critical  moment  the  eagle  eye  of  General  Lane 
observed  the  movement,  when  he  hastened  with  his  brigade  to  the 
rescue  in  time  to  enable  the  retreating  regiments  to  form  and  return 
to  the  contest  and  drive  back  with  great  loss  the  advancing  column  of 
the  enemy.  This  was  Santa  Anna's  last  struggle.  On  that  bloody 
and  hotly  contested  field  night  soon  closed  over  the  sanguinary  scene, 
and  when  the  morning  sun  arose,  it  shone  upon  the  battle-field,  de- 
serted by  Santa  Anna,  with  his  shattered  legions,  while  the  star- 
spangled  banner  waved  in  triumph  over  the  American  army. 

No  officer  went  into  the  Mexican  war  with   less   pretension  than 


23 

General  L:ine — none  came  out  of  it  with  a  brighter  fame.  The  testi- 
mony of  eve  witnesses,  historians,  and  official  records  attest  the  fact. 
The  New  Orleans  Delta,  of  May  2,  1847,  recorded  the  popular  esti- 
mation in  which  General  Lane's  conduct  was  held  in  the  "battle  of 
Bucna  A' 1st  a  as  follows: 

"BRIGADIER  GENERAL  LANK: — The  bearing  .of  this  gallant  officer  in  the  battle  of  Buena 
Vista,  as  described  by  persons  who  were  present,  was  in  the  highest  degree  gallant,  noble,  and 
soldier-like.  When  his  brigade,  composed  of  the  two  Indiana  regiments,  was  exposed  to  a 
murderous  fire  from  the  Mexican  butteries  on  their  flanks,  and  a  front  fire  from  a  large  body 
of  the  enemy's  infantry — when  the  grape  and  musket  shot  flew  thick  as  hail  through  the  lines 
of  our  volunteers,  who  began  to  waver  before  the  fiery  storm,  their  brave  General  could  be 
seei1.  fifty  yards  in  advance  of  the  line,  waving  his  sword  with  an  arm  already  shattered  by  a 
musket  1  >:'.!!.  streaming  with  blood,  and  mounted  on  a  noble  charger,  which  was  gradually 
sinking  under  the  loss  of  blood  from  five  distinct  wounds.  A  brave  sight  indeed  was  this!" 

This  brave  man,  whose  check  never  blanched  with*  fear,  or  eye 
quailed  amidst  the  hottest  conflicts  of  battle,  has  a  heart  of  tenderness 
which  melts  at  human  woe.  His  solicitude  for  and  care  of  the  sick, 
the  wounded,  and  the  dying,  was  manifested  on  many  occasions. 
Numerous  incidents  and  anecdotes  are  narrated,  illustrating  his  kind- 
ness and  tenderness,  in  relieving  their  sufferings  and  administering  to 
their  comfort  in  the  hospitals  and  on  the  battle  fields,  which  so  en- 
deared him  to  his  troops  that  it  made  him  always  invincible  when 
their  leader.  On  his  return  home,  wherever  he  stopped  citizens  of  all 
classes  vied  to  do  honor  to  the  distinguished  hero.  Whilst  in  the  city  of 
Cincinnati,  the  guest  of  General  Moore,  an  incident  occurred  illustra- 
tive of  his  native  kindness  and  tenderness,  and  the  gratitude  of  the 
recipient.  A  German  citizen  ushered  himself  into  the  presence  of 
General  Lane,  amidst  the  guests  in  the  parlor.  He  asked  if  General 
Lane  was  in.  The  German,  with  emotion,  asked:  "Do  you  know 
me,  General?"  "I  do  not,"  said  the  General.  German  :  "Well,  sir, 
I  recollect  and  will  thank  you  to  the  last  day  of  my  life.  Do  you  re- 
member after  the  fight  with  the  guerrillas  at  Manga  de  Clava,  in  which 
we  routed  the  scoundrels  so  finely,  you  found  a  soldier  dying  by  the 
way-side,  exhausted  by  the  heat  of  the  sun  and  the  exertions  of  the 
day,  and  dismounted  from  your  horse  and  placed  him  on  it,  walking 
by  his  side  until  you  reached  the  camp,  where  you  did  not  rest  till 
you  saw  him  well  taken  care  of?"  The  General  replied,  that  he  re- 
collected the  circumstance  very  well.  "Well,"  said  the  German,  "I 
am  the  boy,  and  by  that  act  of  kindness  you  saved  my  live.  I  am 
here  to  thank  you.  How  can  I  ever  forget  to  cease  to  pray  for  you  ? 
God  bless  you,  you  were  the  soldier's  friend." 

In  his  own  State  of  Indiana  it  was  a  perfect  ovation  wherever  he  went. 
The  masses — the  hard  sons  of  toil — turned  out  from  all  the  country, 
and  from  every  hamlet  and  village,  to  welcome  and  do  honor  to 
the  man  of  the  people.  He  was  feasted  and  toasted,  and  congratula- 
tory addresses  were  made  to  him  in  the  name  of  the  people,  by  the 
most  distinguished  men  of  the  State.  He  bore  all  the  honors  and 
compliments  showered  upon  him  meekly,  and  with  characteristic 
modesty,  claimed  for  himself  nothing  more  than  having  done  his  duty. 
In  his  emphatic  language,  he  said  :  "To  the  volunteers  under  my 
command,  I  feel  that  the  honor  is  justly  due;  without  their  aid  I  could 
have  done  nothing." 


24 

After  General  Lane's  brilliant  exploits  under  General  Taylor  on 
the  Rio  Grande,  he  was  transferred  in  September,  1847,  to  General 
Scott's  line.  We  insert  from  a  biographical  sketch,  published  in  the 
Democratic  Rcvietv,  of  May,  1858,  an  exceedingly  interesting  history 
of  his  battle  with  Santa  Anna  at  Huamantla,  when  he  again  defeated 
him,  and  his  rapid  and  successful  assault  upon  the  remnant  of  his  re- 
treating forces  at  Atlixo : 

"Gen.  Lane  having  been  transferred  in  the  summer  of  1847  to  the 
line  of  Gen.  Scott's  operations,  reached  Vera  Cruz  in  the  early  part  of 
September.  On  the  20th  of  that  month  he  set  out  towards  the  city  of 
Mexico  with  a  force  of  about  two  thousand  five  hundred  men,  con- 
sisting of  one  regiment  of  Indiana  and  one  of  Ohio  volunteers,  two 
battalions  of-recruits,  five  small  companies  of  volunteer  horse,  and  two 
pieces  of  artillery.  This  force  was  subsequently  augmented  at  Jalapa 
by  a  junction  with  Major  Lally's  column  of  one  thousand  men,  and  at 
Perote  its  strength  was  further  increased  by  a  company  of  mounted 
riflemen  and  two  of  volunteer  infantry, 'besides  two  pieces  of  artillery. 
Several  small  guerrilla  parties  appeared  at  different  times  on  the  route 
and  attacked  the- advance  and  rear  guards,  but  were  quickly  repulsed; 
and  the  column  continued  its  advance  unmolested  along  the  great 
road  leading  through  Puebla  to  the  city  of  Mexico. 

"At  this  time  Col.  Childs,  of  the  regular  army,  with  a  garrison  of 
five  hundred  effective  troops  and  one  thousand  eight  hundred  invalids, 
was  besieged  in  Puebla  by  a  large  force  of  Mexicans  commanded  by 
Santa  Anna  in  person.  This  general,  notwithstanding  his  many  de- 
feats, with  a  spirit  unbroken  by  misfortune,  and  an  energy  that  de- 
serves our  highest  admiration,  however  much  we  may  reprobate  the 
cause  in  which  he  was  engaged,  had  collected  the  remnant  of  his 
beaten  army,  determined,  if  posible,  to  wrest  Puebla  from  the  grasp 
of  the  American  General,  Scott,  and  thus  cut  off  his  communications 
with  the  sea-coast.  The  gallant  Childs  well  understood  that  the 
maintenance  of  his  post  was  of  the  utmost  importance  to  the  success 
of  the  campaign.  Every  officer  and  soldier  under  his  command 
seemed  also  to  comprehend  the  immensity  of  the  stake;  and  both 
officers  and  soldiers  exhibited  the  loftiest  heroism,  and  the  most  un- 
yielding fortitude,  in  meeting  the  dangers  and  enduring  the  fatigues 
and  privations  of  a  protracted  siege.  Aware  that  a  strong  column, 
under  Gen.  Lane,  was  marching  "from  Vera  Cruz  to  their  relief,  the 
great  object  to  be  gained  by  the  garrison  was  time.  Santa  Anna,  also 
aware  of  Gen.  Lane's  approach,  redoubled  his  exertions  to  carry  the 
place  by  storm,  superintending  the  operations  of  the  troops  in  person, 
directing  the  guns  to  such  parts  of  the  defences  as  appeared  most  vul- 
nerable, and  watching  with  intense  anxiety  the  effect  of  every  shot. 
Convinced  at  length  by  the  obstinate  resistance  of  the  besieged,  and 
the  lessening  distance  between  him  and  his  advancing  and  dreaded 
foe,  that  he  must  abandon  his  position  and  encounter  the  "  Marion  of 
the  War  "  in  an  open  field,  he  silently  and  cautiously  withdrew,  and 
with  the  main  body  of  his  troops  moved  in  the  direction  of  Huamantla, 
intending,  when  Gen.  Lane  had  passed  that  point,  to  make  attack 
upon  his  rear,  while  another  strong  force  should  assail  him  at  the  same 


25 

time  from  the  direction  of  Puebla.  Gen.  Lane  being  informed  of 
Santa  Anna's  movements,  at  once  penetrated  his  designs.  With  the 
promptness  of  decision  displayed  in  all  his  military  operations,  he  di- 
vided his  force,  leaving  the  Ohio  volunteers  and  a  battalion  of  recruits, 
with  ftvo  iield  guns,  to  guard  the  wagon  trains.  With  the  remainder 
of  his  column  he  marched,  by  a  route  diverging  from  the  main  road, 
directly  towards  Iluamantla. 

"  On  the  morning  of  the  9th  of  October,  the  people  of  Iluamantla 
were  startled  arid  dismayed  to  behold  the  formidable  and  glittering 
array  spread  out  over  the  neighboring  hills.  White  flags  were  im- 
mediately hung  out  in  token  of  submission,  and  the  place  seemed  to 
have  surrendered  without  a  blow  from  its  panic-stricken  inhabitants. 
But  suddenly  the  advanced  guard,  under  Capt.  Walker,  having  en- 
tered the  town,  was  assailed  on  every  side  by  volleys  of  musketry. 
He  immediately  ordered  a  charge  upon  a  body  of  500  lancers,  sta- 
tioned with  two  pieces  of  artillery  in  the  Plaza.  A  furious  and  deadly 
combat  ensued.  Gen.  Lane  advancing  at  the  head  of  his  column  en- 
countered the  heavy  reinforcement  ordered  up  by  Santa  Anna,  who 
had  now  arrived  with  his  whole  force.  Soon  the  roar  of  battle  was 
sounded  through  ever}'  street,  and  street  and  Plaza  were  reddened 
with  blood  and  covered  with  heaps  of  the  slain.  The  Mexicans  for  a 
short  time  combated  their  assailants  with  the  energy  and  fury  of  de- 
spair. But  the  steady  and  well-directed  valor  of  the  soldiers  of  the 
" Republic  of  the  North"  bore  down  all  opposition.  The  Mexican 
ranks  were  broken  and  thrown  into  disorder;  the  order  to  retreat  was 
given:  and  the  American  flag  waved  in  triumph  over  the  treacherous 
city  of  Iluamantla.  QfiDCTOit  Libra 

"This  was  the  last  field  on  which  Santa  Anna  appeared  in  arms 
against  the  United  States.  This  remarkable  man,  universally  acknow- 
ledged to  be  an  able  and  active,  was  never  a  successful  commander. 
Whether  this  want  of  success  is  to  be  ascribed  to  the  superior  general- 
ship of  the  leaders  and  prowess  of  the  troops  opposed  to  him,  or  to 
his  own  instability  of  purpose  in  the  very  crisis  of  battle,  when  vigor 
and  decision  are  most  required,  we  will  not  stop  to  inquire.  Having, 
during  the  progress  of  the  war,  collected  several  large  armies,  and  led 
them  to  defeat,  he  had  determined,  with  that  which  remained  to  him 
to  make  a  last  effort  to  retrieve  his  fortunes,  and  Iluamantla  was  se- 
lected as  the  Waterloo,  where  his  waning  star  should  shine  out  in 
cloudless  effulgence,  or  sink  to  rise  no  more.  If  he  did  not  encounter 
a  Wellington  on  that  field,  he  encountered  one  who,  with  Welling- 
ton's courage,  united  many  of  the  higher  qualities  of  a  military  com- 
mander. Perhaps  he  relied  upon  General  Lane's  want  of  experience  ; 
but  the  courage  and  conduct  of  the  latter  at  Buena  Vista  should  have 
admonished  him  of  the  hoplessness  of  a  contest  in  an  open  and  equal 
field  with  such  an  officer,  at  the  head  of  troops  comparatively  fresh, 
in  high  spirits,  with  full  confidence  in  the  skill  and  courage  of  their 
leader,  and  burning  to  rival  the  heroic  deeds  of  their  countrymen  at 
Chapultepecand  Cerro  Gordo.  Although  Santa  Anna  from  this  time 
withdrew  from  an  active  participation  in  the  contest  between  the  bel- 
ligerent nations,  the  bloody  drama  in.  which  he  had  played  so  con- 


26 

ispicuous  a  part  was  not  yet  closed.  Much  remained  to  be  done  to 
complete  the  conquest  so  auspiciously  begun  on  the  banks  of  the  Rio 
Grande,  and  prosecuted  with  such  vigor  by  Scott  in  the  valley  of 
Mexico.  Many  bloody  fields  were  yet  to  be  won ;  many  desperate 
bands  of  guerrillas  yet  to  be  defeated  and  dispersed,  to  render  tl»  sub- 
jugation of  the  country  complete. 

"Defeated  at  Huamantla.  the  remnant  of  the  Mexican  force  fell  back 
on  Atlixo,  where,  on  the  18th  of  October,  a  large  body,  with  muni- 
tions and  supplies,  and  two  pieces  of  artillery,  were  collected,  under 
the  orders  of  Gen.  Rea.  Gen.  Lane  hearing  of  the  concentration  of 
the  enemy's  troops  at  that  point,  hastened  with  the  small  force  at  his 
disposal  to  attack  them.  After  a  long  and  fatiguing  march  on  a  hot 
and  sultry  day,  he  encountered  the  enemy  strongly  posted  on  a  hill- 
side, within  a  mile  and  a  half  from  Atlixo.  The  Mexicans  made  a 
show  of  desperate  resistance,  but  being  vigorously  assaulted  by  the 
cavalry,  closely  followed  by  the  entire  column,  they  gave  way  and 
fled  in  confusion  towards  the  town.  It  was  not  until  after  nightfall 
that  the  whole  command  of  Gen.  Lane  reached  Atlixo,  having  marched 
ten  Spanish  leagues  since  eleven  o'clock  in  the  forenoon.  Disposing 
his  troops  in  such  manner  as  to  command  the  approaches  by  the  main 
roads,  he  opened  a  vigorous  cannonade  from  a  height  which  com- 
manded the  town.  The  guerrillas,  however,  had  fled,  and  the  authori- 
ties having  soon  after  surrendered  the  place  into  his  hands,  his  wearied 
troops  entered  the  town  and  sought  the  repose  they  so  much  needed." 

It  is  impossible,  within  the  limited  space  allotted  to  this  sketch,  to 
present  a  detailed  account  of  all  Gen.  Lane's  military  operations  at 
this  period.  In  authentic  histories  of  the  war  and  official  documents 
filed  in  the  archives  of  government,  the  reader  will  find  the  record  of 
his  achievements — his  long  and  toilsome  marches  by  night  and  by  day 
over  a  wild  and  rugged  country,  full  of  narrow  defiles  and  dangerous 
passes ;  his  frequent  surprises  of  the  enemy  ;  his  sudden  incursions 
far  away  into  remote  valley  and  plain  ;  Jiis  fierce  combats  and  glo- 
rious victories.  At  Tlascalla,  Matamoras,  Galaxa,  Tulaucingo,  Zi- 
caultiplan,  as  at  Huamantla  and  Atlixo,  Mexican  valor  yielded  to  the 
force  of  his  impetuous  and  well-directed  assaults.  On  every  field  the 
ranks  of  the  enemy  went  down  before  the  thundering  charge  of  his 
cavalry,  the  fierce  onset  of  his  resistless  infantry.  The  fame  of  his 
achievements  soon  spread  through  Mexico,  and  the  terror  with  which 
the  enemy  was  inspired  by  his  death-dealing  blows  and  almost  ubi- 
quitous presence,  was  equalled  only  by  the  unbounded  confidence  and 
enthusiasm  infused  into  his  followers  by  his  gallant  bearing,  and  the 
prestige  of  a  name  ever  relied  on  by  them  as  the  sure  guarantee 
of  victory.  For  one  quality  as  much  as  any  other,  perhaps  even 
his  dauntless  courage,  Gen.  Lane  was  distinguished  throughout  the 
war — humanity  to  the  vanquished.  His  bright  fame  was  unsullied,  his 
escutcheon  untarnished  by  a  single  act  of  wanton  outrage  or  cruelty 
during  the  whole  time  he  bore  a  commission  in  the  American  army. 
When  the  fig*ht  was  over,  and  the  victory  won,  the  field  of  carnage, 
where  a  short  time  before  foeman  met  foeman  in  deadly  conflict,  pre- 
sented the  spectacle  of  stern  and  swarthy  warriors,  imbued  with  the 


27 

humane  spirit  of  their  leader,  bending  over  the  heaps  of  the  dying  and 
the  dead,  selecting  now  a  friend,  and  now  a  foe,  from  whom  the  vital 
spark  had  not  yet  fled,  staunching  his  wounds,  and  if  the  sufferer  had 
not  yet  passed  beyond  the  power  of  human  aid  to  save,  restoring  him 
by  their  kind  ministrations  to  life  and  health,  family,  home,  and 
friends.  An  officer  thus  distinguished  for  courage  and  humanity ;  un- 
yielding fortitude  under  the  severest  privations ;  an  originality  and 
promptness  in  the  formation  of  his  plans,  surpassed  only  by  the  bold- 
ness and  rapidity  of  their  execution  ;  a  celerity  of  movement  which 
annihilated  time  and  distance  ;  with  a  power  of  endurance  that  defied 
hunger  and  thirst,  heat  and  cold — such  an  officer,  never  for  a  moment 
relaxing  his  exertions,  and  adding  some  new  name  to  the  list  of  the 
last  of  his  conquests,  could  not  fail  to  attract  the  attention  and  excite 
the  admiration  of  the  army,  and  win  the  approbation  and  applause  of 
his  countrymen  in  all  parts  of  the  United  States.  There  was  a  tinge 
of  romance  in  his  exploits,  which  possessed  an  irresistible  attraction, 
and  captivated  the  imagination  of  all  classes  of  admirers.  But  imagi- 
nation has  had  little  to  do  with  the  final  judgment  which  his  country- 
men have  pronounced  upon  his  conduct.  The  parallel  traced  at  the 
time  between  his  deeds  and  character,  and  those  of  an  illustrious  hero 
of  the  Revolution,  suggested  to  his  countrymen  a  suitable  way  of  tes- 
tifying their  appreciation  of  his  services  and  admiration  of  his  character; 
and  they  have,  with  a  unanimity  which  shows  that  the  parallel  is  not 
altogether  imaginary,  bestowed  upon  him  a  title,  prouder  than  any  ever 
conferred  by  a  patent  of  nobility  from  prince  or  potentate — the  title 
of  "The  Marion  of  the  Mexican  War." 

Before  the  close  of  the  war  the  Government  of  the  United  States, 
appreciating  the  valuable  services  rendered  by  Gen.  Lane,  conferred 
on  him  the  rank  of  Major  General.  This  was  so  expressed  in  the 
order  of  the  department,  as  a  special  mark  of  approbation  for  his  "  gal- 
lantry and  skill  displayed  in  numerous  engagements  with  the  enemy." 

"  Peace  has  her  victories,  no  less  renowned  than  war.'' 

So  successful  and  brilliant  as  the  commander  of  armies,  a  few  days 
after  he  returned  to  his  peaceful  home,  crowned  with  laurels  and  the 
honors  which  an  admiring  people  showered  upon  him,  he  was  called 
to  a  different  scene  of  duty,  where  he  could  exercise  his  sound  judg- 
ment and  practical  knowledge  in  organizing  and  putting  in  practical 
operation  a  civil  government  on  the  shores  of  the  Pacific  for  a  remote 
people,  who  had  been  long  neglected  and  uncared  for.  In  August, 
1848,  he  received  a  commission  as  Governor  of  Oregon  Territory, 
another  compliment  as  unexpected  as  it  was  unsolicited  from  Mr. 
Polk.  In  less  than  one  month  from  the  time  he  returned  to  the  bosom 
of  his  family  from  the  stirring  scenes  of  war,  he  was  en  route  for  the 
distant  shores  of  the  Pacific,  with  hardships,  perils,  and  privations  to 
encounter  in  crossing  the  Rocky  mountains  at  that  season  of  the  year 
to  reach  his  post  of  duty ;  which  required  an  energy,  hardihood,  and 
self-reliance  to  overcome  which  but  few  men  possess.  Col.  Fremont, 
who  followed  him  a  few  weeks  afterwards,  taking  a  different  route 
across  the  mountains,  lost  almost  his  entire  party  amid  the  cold  and 


28 

snows  in  the  gorges  and  defiles  of  the  mountains,  and  nearly  perished 
himself. 

A  narrative  of  the  hardships  and  sufferings  endured  and  the  perils 
encountered  by  Governor  Lane  and  his  party  in  crossing  the  Rocky 
mountains,  would  fill  a  volume.  We  can  now  no  more  than  quote 
from  a  speech  made  by  Mr.  Voorhies.  of  Indiana,  last  winter  to  the 
citizens  of  Washington,  who  had  assembled  to  congratulate  Gen.  Lane 
upon  the  admission  of  Oregon  into  the  Union,  and  himself  into  the 
United  States  Senate  as  one  of  her  Senators.  He  said: 

"  There  is  a  history  of  events  connected  with  the  pioneer  movements  of  Gen.  Lane  to  Ore- 
gon, not  generally  known  to  the  American  people.  On  the  llth  September,  1848,  at  the 
foQt  of  the  eastern  slope  of  the  Rocky  mountains,  with  a  commission  from  President  Polk 
as  Governor  of  Oregon  Territory  in  his  pocket,  he,  to  whom  you  tender  the  honor  of  this 
demonstration,  gave  evidence  to  his  country  and  to  the  world  of  a  will  and  a  courage  in  the 
discharge  of  duty  surpassing  that  which  Napoleon  displayed  in  his  immortal  passage  of  the 
Alps.  The  great  hero  of  Austerlitz  and  Marengo  was  told  by  his  guide,  that  the  route  was 
barely  passable,  and  the  order  came  from  the  bold  spirit  to  set  forward  immediately.  Gen. 
Lane,  in  consultation  with  Col.  Dougherty,  a  mountaineer  of  twenty  years'  experience,  was 
told  that  the  passage  of  the  Rocky  mountains  at  this  season  of  the  year,  with  certainty  of 
spending  the  winter  in  their  midst  was  a  human  impossibility.  'We  will  set  forward  in 
the  morning,'  was  the  reply  of  the  American  hero  and  patriot,  who  never  knew  fear  in  the 
achievement  of  public  duty.  He  and  his  little  band  moved  in  the  morning,  and  for  five 
weary  and  desolate  months  were  lost  and  buried  amid  the  gorges  and  defiles  and  snows  of 
the  mountains.  Fancy  may  paint,  but  the  tongue  cannot  sketch  even  the  faint  outlines  of 
that  expedition.  On  the  3d  of  March,  1849,  Gen.  Lane  reached  the  capital  of  Oregon,  and 
before  he  slept,  put  the  Territorial  Government  in  operation,  and  started  a  communication 
to  the  President  informing  him  of  the  fact." 

In  the  discharge  of  the  duties  of  Governor  of  the  Territory  of  Oregon, 
and  ex-officio  superintendent  of  Indian  affairs,  General  Lane  evinced 
the  highest  order  of  ability.  His  messages  to  the  Territorial  Legisla- 
ture abound  in  sound  and  practical  views  relative  to  the  wants  and 
interests  of  the  Territory,  and  in  the  recommendation  of  wholesome 
and  judicious  measures,  calculated  to  develope  the  resources  and  pro- 
mote the  prosperity  of  the  people.  He  found  the  Indian  affairs  in  a 
most  troubled  condition — the  troops  disbanded,  the  various  tribes  in 
a  hostile  attitude  to  the  citizens,  had  committed  depredations  upon 
their  propert}-,  and  murdered  several  families — the  murderers  unpun- 
ished, and  no  restitution  of  stolen  property.  As  soon  as  he  put  the 
government  in  operation,  without  troops  he  proceeded  to  the  scenes 
of  depredation,  robbery,  and  murder,  and  by  his  superior  address, 
tact  and  judgment,  he. quelled  all  disturbances,  had  the  murderers  ar- 
rested and  punished,  and  without  war  or  bloodshed,  accomplished 
what  both  had  failed  to  effect.  An  incident  occurred  in  Gov.  Lane's 
"talk  "  with  the  Rogue  River  Indians,  a  warlike  and  predatory  tribe, 
which  illustrates  his  remarkable  self-possession,  coolness  and  judgment 
in  imminent  peril.  He  entered  their  country  with  twelve  or  fifteen 
men ;  these  Indians  had  fiercely  rejected  all  attempts  by  the  whites  at 
conciliation.  The  safety  of  the  border  citizens  required  decided  terms 
of  war  or  peace.  Gen.  Lane  chose  the  latter;  with  some  difficulty  he 
succeeded  in  assembling  four  or  five  hundred  warriors  in  council. 
During  the  interview,  one  of  his  company  recognized  two  horses  stolen 
from  him,  in  the  possession  of  the  Indians,  and  two-pistols  in  the  belts 
of  the  two  chiefs.  The  Governor  demanded  restitution  of  the  prop- 
erty, which  restored,  he  said,  would  evince  their  willingness  to  treat 


29 

and  preserve  peace.  The  bead  Chief  ordered  restitution,  but  the  pos- 
sessors refused.  The  Governor  then  stepped  forward  and  took  one  of 
the  stolen  pistols  from  the  Indian's  belt  and  gave  it  to  the  owner,  and 
was  about  to  take  the  other  pistol,  when  the  Indian  who  had  it  pre- 
sented his  gun  and  raised  the  war  whoop.  Instantly  four  or  five  hun- 
dred guns  were  pointed  at  Gen.  Lane  and  his  small  party. 

A  single  false  step  would  have  led  to  the  most  disastrous  results,  but 
Gen.  Lane's  coolness  and  promptness  were  equal  to  the  crisis.  He 
said,  I  have  come  here  to  make  a  treaty  of  peace,  not  to  have  a  tight; 
and  promptly  stepping  to  the  side  of  the  principal  chief,  with  his  tirm 
eye  fixed  on  him,  pistol  in  hand,  he  told  him,  if  a  drop  of  blood  of  any 
of  the  whites  was  shed,  it  should  be  avenged  by  the  destruction  of  the 
entire  tribe.  This  well-timed  move  had  the  desired  effect.  The  chief 
told  his  warriors  to  cease  their  demonstrations.  The  Governor  then 
advanced  among  the  foremost,  took  their  arrows  from  their  bows  and 
returned  them  to  their  quivers,  and  uncocked  their  guns,  and  knocked 
the  priming  from  their  pans. 

Gen.  Lane  did  not  hold  the  office  of  Governor  of  Oregon  more  than 
about  two  years  before  he  was  superseded  by  President  Taylor. 
"Whereupon  the  Legislature  of  Oregon  passed  resolutions  expressive 
of  their  high  sense  of  the  energy,  ability,  and  success  which  charac- 
'  terized  his  administration  as  Governor  of  Oregon,  and  superintendent 
of  Indian  affairs,  and  their  ''sincere  regret  that  the  President  of  the 
United  States  has  deprived  the  Territory  of  Oregon  of  the  future 
services  of  one  so  eminently  useful,  and  whose  usefulness  was  en- 
hanced by  the  unbounded  confidence  of  the  people  over  whom  he  was 
placed." 

As  soon  as  the  intelligence  of  the  death  of  the  lamented  Thurston,  the 
faithful,  able,  and  efficient  delegate  in  Congress,  reached  Oregon,  Gene- 
ral Lane  was  unanimously  selected  as  his  successor,  and  was  elected  by 
an  almost  unanimous  vote  of  the  people. 

Upon  the  eve  of  General  Lane's  departure  from  Oregon  to  the 
National  Capitol,  as  their  delegate  to  Congress,  the  people,  without 
distinction  of  party,  held  a  mass  meeting  to  tender  "him  a  public  ex- 
pression of  opinion  in  regard  to  his  distinguished  talents  and  services." 
Among  other  things  they  resolved,  "  that  as  friends  of  Gen.  Joseph 
Lane,  without  distinction  of  party,  we  tender  him  our  hearty  and 
entire  approbation  of  his  acts  as  Governor  of  Oregon  Territory,"  and 
that  from  "the  ability,  energy,  fidelity  and  purity  of  purpose  which 
have  characterized  all  his  public  acts  among  us,  it  is  but  fitting  that 
we  express  our  approbation  and  admiration  of  his  course,"  and  "that 
General  Lane  came  to  us  covered  with  military  glory,  and  leaves  us, 
upon  the  business  of  the  Territory,  clothed  with  our  confidence  and 
attachment."  That  confidence  and  attachment  the  people  of  Oregon 
have  ever  since  manifested  towards  him,  b}T  continuing  him  as  their 
delegate  in  Congress  until  the  Territory  was  admitted"" as  one  of  the 
States  into  the  Union,  when,  in  obedience  to  the  unanimous  voice  of 
his  party,  he  became  one  of  the  Senators  from  that  State. 

All  the  responsible  positions  to  which  General  Lane  has  been  called, 
were  unsolicited  and  unexpected  by  him,  what  but  few  public  men  can 


30 

say,  and  he  has  filled  them  with  signal  ability  and  success.  Endowed 
with  a  strong  and  practical  mind,  stored  with  the  most  useful  know- 
ledge, acquired  by  extensive  reading  and  accurate  observation  ;  sound, 
liberal,  and  conservative  in  his  views  of  the  policy  and  principles  of 
our  Government,  he  combines  personal  traits  of  character,  eminently 
calculated  to  win  the  popular  heart;  with  a  warm.,  generous,  and  manly 
spirit,  with  a  kind,  frank,  and  social  disposition,  with  a  demeanor  so 
modest  and  unpretending  that  he  excites  no  one's  envy,  he  has  acquired 
an  influence  and  popularity  which  but  few  men  attain. 

In  Indiana,  in  the  legislature  and  with  the  people,  he  was  univer- 
sally popular,  and  one  of  the  leading  men  of  the  State,  and  styled  uher 
favorite  son."'  On  the  battle  fields  of  Mexico  the  soldiers  viewed  him 
as  invincible,  and  he  was  the  pride  of  the  officers  of  the  army.  In 
Oregon  his  name  is  a  tower  of  strength.  In  the  halls  of  Congress  his 
popularity  and  influence  are  unsurpassed.  Indeed,  it  was  chiefly  owing 
to  his  influence  and  exertions  that  the  bill  to  admit  Oregon  into  the 
Union  passed  the  PIou.se  at  the  session 'before  last. 

The  passage  of  that  bill  was  attended  by  great  excitement.  It  was 
violently  opposed  by  the  ultra  men,  North  and  South.  When  the  final 
vote  was  taken,  a  breathless  silence  reigned  through  the  Hall  and  the 
crowded  galleries,  broken  only  by  the  emphatic  answer  of  yea  or  nay, 
as  the  members  answered  to  the  call  of  the  clerk  for  their  vote;  as  the 
vote  was  being  taken  members  were  to  be  seen,  in  all  parts  of  the  hall, 
keeping  count,  and  when  Felix  K.  Zollicoffer  responded  to  the  last  call, 
parties  from  all  parts  of  the  hall  surrounded  General  Lane  with  their 
warm  and  hearty  congratulations,  which  indicated  the  result,  and  when 
formally  announced  by  the  Speaker  from  the  chair,  round  after  round 
of  applause  arose  from  the  members  in  the  Hall,  which  was  caught 
and  repeated  by  the  crowded  galleries  of  anxious  spectators,  with 
waving  of  handkerchiefs  by  the  ladies,  and  clapping  of  hands  by  the 
sterner  sex,  which  showed  that  "he  lives  in  the  hearts  of  his  country- 
men." When  the  news  of  the  passage  of  the  bill,  and  that  a  seat  in 
the  Senate  was  thereby  secured  to  General  Lane,  spread  through  the 
city,  there  was  a  general  rejoicing  by  the  citizens,  and  the  demonstra- 
tions of  honor  paid  to  General  Lane  at  his  lodgings  that  night  were  of 
the  most  enthusiastic  character.  A  band  of  musicians  serenaded  him 
with  the  most  delightful  music;  the  people  assembled  in  crowds;  the 
strong  men  of  the  nation  were  there,  and  made  congratulatory  speeches 
from  the  portico  of  Brown's  hotel,  which  were  received  with  the  enthu- 
siastic cheers  of  the  assembled  masses,  which  made  the  welkin  ring. 
General  Lane  appeared,  and  responded  to  the  unexpected  compliment, 
in  a  chaste,  appropriate,  and  eloquent' speech,  then  opened  his  rooms 
and  his  heart  to  receive  his  friends,  and  gave  them  the  best  cheer  that 
could  be  provided  at  so  short  a  notice. 

The  fidelity,  ability,  and  success  with  which  General  Lane  has  rep- 
resented the  interests  of  his  people  in  Congress,  is  attested  by  the 
fact  that,  from  the  time  he  was  first  elected,  he  has  been  re-elected 
their  representative,  with  little  or  no  opposition,  for  a  period  of  more 
than  eight  years,  until,  by  an  almost  unanimous  vote,  he  was  chosen 
one  of  the  United  States  Senators,  by  the  legislature,  upon  the  adrnis- 


31 

sion  of  Oregon  into  the  Union,  having  received  forty-five  of  the  fifty 
votes  cast. 

Short  as  has  been  his  service  in  the  Senate,  he  has  more  than  sus- 
tained the  reputation  he  acquired  in  other  spheres  of  public  duty.  His 
remarks  in  the  Senate,  on  the  19th  December  last,  on  the  territorial 
question,  did  honor  to  his  head  and  his  heart.  They  breathed  the 
spirit  of  a  patriot  and  the  sentiments  of  a  statesman.  He  enunciated 
the  true  principles  of  the  Constitution  in  a  concise,  but  clear  and  forci- 
ble exposition  of  the  heresy  of  squatter  sovereignty,  and  the  duty  and 
importance  of  maintaining  the  equality  of  the  States,  in  all  their  con- 
stitutional rights  in  the  territories  and  elsewhere,  in  order  to  preserve 
"the  Constitution  and  the  Union,  the  richest  political  blessings  which 
Heaven  has  bestowed  upon  any  nation." 

To  preserve  the  Constitution,  and  to  perpetuate  the  Union,  the 
equality  of  the  States  must  le  Maintained,  was  the  sentiment  he  ex- 
pressed and  enforced,  with  such  strong  and  practical  arguments  as  will 
carry  conviction  of  their  truth  to  the  mind  of  every  patriot  who  reads 
them.  In  the  language  of  a  distinguished  Senator,  who  arose  imme- 
diately after  General  Lane  concluded  his  speech,  to  express  the  deep 
gratification  he  felt  at  its  delivery,  it  contained  more  conservatism, 
more  of  genuine  nationality,  more  of  that  broad  sentiment  which  covers 
this  whole  country,  than  any  speech  which  had  been  pronounced  in  the 
Senate  during  that  session;  and  it  might  not  be  extravagant  to  add, 
during  half  a-dozen  sessions. 

No  man  has  a  purer  or  a  brighter  record  as  a  citizen,  a  patriot,  or  a 
stateman,  than  General  Lane.  The  prudence,  wisdom,  firmness,  and 
ability,  which  he  has  displayed  in  all  the  responsible  trusts  committed 
to  him,  whether  as  the  commander  of  armies  in  battle,  or  as  a  legis- 
lator in  the  State  or  national  councils,  illustrate  his  fitness  for  the 
second  office  in  the  gift  of  the  nation,  for  which  he  has  been  unani- 
mously nominated. 

In  sunshine  and  in  storm  he  has  been  true  to  Democratic  principles, 
as  the  needle  to  the  pole. 

His  sound  national  views  of  governmental  policy,  with  a  patriotism 
broad  enough  to  embrace  with  equal  warmth  his  whole  country,  com- 
mend him  to  national,  conservative  men,  in  every  quarter  of  the  Union. 

But  few  public  men  have  ever  lived  so  strongly  entrenched  in  the 
affections  of  the  people  as  General  Lane.  From  the  toiling  masses  he 
has  risen  to  his  high  position  by  the  force  of  his  intellect,  and  the  en- 
ergy and  purity  of  his  character.  With  no  vanity  to  grow  into  arro- 
gance from  success,  he  is  as  simple  and  unpretending  in  his  manners 
as  a  child,  endowed  with  some  of  the  noblest  attributes  that  can  dignify 
man — brave,  generous,  kind,  and  true.  While  he  commands  the  admi- 
ration, he  wins  the  warmest  friendship,  alike  of  the  high  and  the  low, 
the  rich  and  the  poor. 

Pages  might  be  written,  giving  the  details  of  many  noble,  brave,  and 
generous  deeds,  which  have  characterized  his  eventful  life,  which  are 
the  secret  of  his  success,  and  the  reason  of  his  strength  with  the  people, 
who  are  always  prompt  to  appreciate  and  reward  merit. 

In  conclusion,  we  will  relate  only  one  incident  which  occurred  after 


32 


the  suppression  of  hostilities  by  the  Kogue  river  Indians,  in  soi'.thern 
Oregon,  in  the  spring  of  1853,  an  incident  which  illustrates  his  steiling; 
patriotism,  and  the  kindness  and  generosity  of  his  heart,  which  stamps 
him  as  one  of  the  noblest  of  nature's  noblemen. 

As  soon  as  General  Lane  heard  of  the  outbreak  he  left  his  borne,  an 
repaired  to  the  scene  of  hostilities  as  a  volunteer,  and  placed  himsel 
under  the  command  of  Captain  Alden,  of  the  4th  infantry,  Unite 
States  army.  The  regular  troops  not  being  sufficient  to  quell  the  di 
turbance,  volunteers  were  called  for.  Governor  Curry,  learning  th 
General  Lane  had  proceeded  to  the  scene  of  action,  forwarded  him,  a 
once,  a  commission  of  Brigadier  General.  The  hostilities  were  promptl 
suppressed  by  a  short  but  decisive  battle  at  Table  Rock,  on  the  part  o 
the  regulars  and  volunteers,  with  the  Indians,  in  which  General  Lan 
was  severely  wounded  in  the.  right  shoulder;  when,  through  his  grea 
influence  with  the  Indians,  a  treaty  of  peace  was  made  with  them.  A 
the  ensuing  session  of  Congress  a  law  was  enacted  to  pay  the  volunteer 
for  their  services.  Major  Alvord,  the  United  States  paymaster,  pai 
the  troops  in  full,  with  the  exception  of  General  Lane,  who  did  nc 
appear  to  claim  the  amount  due  him.  He  then  wrote  to  him  that  ther 
were  due  for  his  services  about  four  hundred  dollars.  General  Lan 
replied,  that  he  had  offered  his  services,  without  intending  to  receiv 
any  compensation,  simply  because  he  deemed  it  his  duty,  whenever  ; 
war  broke  out  in  his  country,  to  contribute  his  aid  in  suppressing  it 
desiring  no  other  reward  than  the  consciousness  of  having  done  hi 
duty  in  aiding  to  protect  the  homes  and  the  firesides  of  his  people  f'rot 
the  assaults  of  the  enemy,  and  directed  the  amount  due  him  to  be  pai 
for  the  benefit  of  two  orphan  boys,  the  only  survivors  of  the  War 
family,  who  were  most  cruelly  murdered  by  the  hostile  Indians.  The 
were  the  children  of  a  large  lamily  of  emigrants,  whom  General  La 
had  never  seen,  but  whose  active  sympathies  were  deeply  touched  b 
the  cruel  butchery  of  the  entire  family,  except  these  two  little  boy 
saved  from  the  slaughter,  but  left  without  a  home  to  shelter  them,  o 
a  friendly  hand  to  relieve  them  in  their  deep  dist$*ess  and  destitution. 

The  life  of  General  Lane  will  stand  out  prominently  in  history  a 
that  of  a. remarkable  man,  illustrating  the  fact  that  the  humblest  indi 
vidual  may,  under  our  free  and  liberal  institutions,  attain  the  highes 
point  of  distinction,  by  industry,   energy,  and.^  perseverance,  and  wil 
furnish  an  example  to  incite  ardent  and  ambitious  minds  to  emula 
his  vh  tiles,  av.vi  cultivate  their  noblest  faculties,  with  the  confident  a 
surance  of  the  most  triumphant  success. 


